Peterborough United boss delighted to see his team prove they can be a threat to any opposition

Posh beat promotion fancies Bolton Wanderers 3-1 courtesy of fine finishes from Jimmy-Jay Morgan, Matthew Garbett and Kyrell Lisbie. The win moved Posh up two places to 10th and to within four points of Bolton, who currently occupy the final place in the play-offs.

The Posh boss also felt his players delivered an emphatic response to the 5-2 defeat second-placed Lincoln City in their previous outing.

Williams said: “It was a really good performance and one reason i have faith in this group is there have been many questions put to them since I’ve been here and they’ve answered most of them extremely well.

“Today is another example of them as a group taking a huge amount of responsibility and dealing with pressure in a really professional way.

“The key was starving the opposition of the ball and not letting them get into a flow, which would have made it a very different game. We harassed them on the ball.

“The first goal was a real throwback in many ways with the big nine and ten. The first striker making the big contact, the second striker running on and scorting. We combined that with control and a lot of quality football. Jimmy-Jay was outstanding in his role today.

“If we want to be a team that is a threat to every type of opposition, we need to be able to pick through teams as well as play direct and that was a great example.

“We also knew if we didn’t come out well in the second-half it was going to be a different game because they would regroup. We were ready for that and the second was a huge goal and really gave us a foothold in the game.

“We learnt a tough lesson at Lincoln last week by conceding straight after getting back into the game, but we learnt from it and did it to Bolton which was a huge blow for them.

“Kyrell is going from strength. He’s getting some really heavy treatment and he’s standing up to it to create big actions time and time again. He understands his defensive responsibilities for the team and doesn’t shirk those either. I’m really impressed with him.

“The players are the most important people and it is my job to make all their qualities and individual characteristics work. It’s never going to be ‘this is my idea and there is no other way’. It’s about the players. If they have unique skills and if they are valuable to the team, I need to find a way to make it work.

“The wide players are an example. We have Kyrell Lisbie, who can play on the touchline and is really outstanding in causing huge problems. Then we have Matty Garbett, who can move from outside to in and rodeo with players chasing him. He’s able to take the channel and deliver balls from the outside and can cut in and bend the ball in with his other foot.”

Posh have a week off now, while a number of sides are in Vertu Trophy action in midweek, before hosting Plymouth Argyle on Saturday (January 17, 3pm). Argyle are currently 16th, three points above the bottom four.