Peterborough United boss hailed his heroic players after Carabao Cup win over Barnsley
Peterborough United manager Luke Williams hailed his ‘heroic’ players after they emerged victorious from a thrilling Carabao Cup tie at the Weston Homes Stadium on Tuesday night.
Posh beat League One rivals Barnsley 7-6 in a penalty shoot out after a 3-3 draw to book a place in the fourth round draw for the first time since 2009. That draw will take place on Wednesday night at approximately 10.15pm following the Manchester United v Brighton game at Old Trafford.
Full debutant Danny Ormerod claimed his first two goals for Posh with Harry Leonard also on target as bold selection decisions paid off for Williams. Ormerod’s second goal was an 87th minute equaliser.
Posh also recovered from a shocking start when goalkeeper Alex Bass gifted Barnsley a second-minute goal. Posh were perfect from the penalty spot in the shootout.
"It was a rough start, although I felt the opposition player was in the penalty area before we took the goal-kick,” Williams said. “I felt for Bassy as he’s been so good for us, but he responded brilliantly. He faced about 30 shots tonight so he was busy and he saved a penalty in the shootout.
“And the spirit and character from the whole group was just fantastic. They kept going and they kept fighting and running for each other. They were heroic and deserved their win.
"It was madness out there at times. There didn’t seem to be anyone playing in midfield so it was more like basketball than football, but I was proud of how relentlessly we went after the game. We then delivered a clean set of penalties so it was a good night for us.”
Posh fielded two strikers in Leonard and Ormerod for the first time this season. Williams was also forced to pick young centre-back Lucca Mendonca at right-back after James Dornelly missed out with a calf problem. Midfielder Ben Woods was also absent with an unspecified minor problem.
"I was delighted for our strikers,” Williams added. “As much as we were conceding chances we were also creating them and as we had two fantastic forwards on the pitch an open game probably suited us.
"I was so happy with Lucca. He was up against a top player who has so much quality, but he competed well against him. He also looked comfortable on the ball so I’m confident he could play at right-back again.”
The win was a morale-booster for Posh and the manager ahead of a big game against bottom club Doncaster Rovers at London Road on Saturday (September 19, 3pm).
The atmosphere could become febrile if Posh are beaten, but Williams insisted: ‘I don’t listen to noise as that’s all it is.”