Peterborough United boss happy with his new goalkeeper, but chance came due to injury, key player absent due to birth of child and new striker available next time out

Benda made his debut at the Hawthorns on Saturday (January 22) after signing on loan from Swansea last Tuesday (January 11).

Ferguson praised his new signing for being ‘confident’, ‘composed’ and for kicking well. He confirmed that Dai Cornell missed the match with a back injury that is not thought to be serious.

Posh suffered another injury blow when they lost Ronnie Edwards right after the half-time break. The young defender was forced off after being caught in the head by Daryl Dike on the follow-through from a headed effort. Josh Knight replaced him as a concussion substitute, which allowed Posh to make a fourth change and bring on Joe Ward.

Experienced defender Nathan Thompson was absent from the squad due to the birth of his second child in the week.

Ferguon said: “Nathan had the birth of his little girl this week so he missed a few days training. It’s been a tough week for him emotionally and physically so I gave him a breather to freshen him up. It was the right time to do it.

“I just wanted freshness in the team after last week’s performance.”

One of the few positives for Posh was the return of Jack Marriott for the first time in over four months after limping out of the defeat at Reading in September.

Ferguson added: “Jack Marriott being back in our squad is a massive positive. He’s moving as well as he has since he came back to us, he’s mentally in a good place and is a big addition back into the squad.

“Callum Morton will be available for the game on Tuesday, which will give us more forward options, which we need, but Jonno led the line fine and did his job.”