Peterborough United deserve to revel in their Friday night brilliance, but please stay focused, change nothing and get ready for the pressure of a potential Hillsborough onslaught

He’ll manage it though. He’s too wise a professional to assume it’s job done even if that is the consensus from those close to the Sheffield Wednesday camp.

There was even some speculation Darren Moore might lose his job as Owls boss a week after completing a 96-point season. A shock 4-0 defeat at ‘little old Peterborough’ in a play-off semi-final will cause that sort of reaction in the harsh world of football on social media.

But, apologies for the cliche, it is still only half-time, and Posh still have to negotiate a packed Hillsborough before they can prepare for a trip to Wembley. Wednesday have a formidable record at their historic ground and they have scored freely at times at home so it was actually quite encouraging to hear Ferguson mention avoiding complacency and the need to stay positive in his post-match interviews last night.

For two games in a row Posh have revelled in being heavy underdogs to make progress towards the Championship. They will be hot favourites to get through to a Wembley final now and that brings a much different kind of pressure, the sort that Wednesday didn’t cope with last night.

TALKING POINTS FROM THE 4-0 WIN OVER SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY….

1) That message re complacency is certain to be rammed into the players from now until next Thursday’s second leg (May 18, 8pm). There were warning signs for Posh even on a night when they played quite beautifully at times. It needed a fine save from Will Norris to stop Wednesday taklng an early lead after an Oliver Norburn error and we all know how tough Posh have found it when falling behind this season. Posh opened the scoring with help from the visiting goalkeeper and added a second goal with the help of a deflection. You could argue fortune favoured the brave as Ferguson had predicted, but those rubs of the green could go against them next week and that would make the tie uncomfortable. It’s imperative Posh give no early encouragement to the Owls next week. The back four, and goalkeeper for that matter, plus the deeper midfielders, can expect to be pressed relentlessly next week, but if they stay cool and trust their quality on the ball they can break through and cause problems again for a defence that looked cumbersome when Posh started running at them.

2) There was also a big penalty shout after a strike at goal was deflected to safety off the elbow of Ronnie Edwards. It was a tight call. There was no VAR (there will be at Wembley) and the decision went Posh’s way. What a huge moment that could have been as a red card would have followed a penalty award and, although Posh were 3-0 up at the time, the loss of Edwards for the final quarter of this game and the whole of the second leg could have been fatal. Edwards was that good last night. I was tempted to give him a 10/10 and I’m not sure why I didn’t as I can’t remember a single false step. His performance suggested he wasn’t the slightest bit disappointed to have been pulled out of an England World Cup squad by his club.

3) There was some fuss before this game about the respective talents of Owls midfielder Barry Bannon and his Posh counterpart Jack Taylor. It was a surprise Bannon didn’t win the League One player of the season award, but he was completely overshadowed by the performance of Taylor, who is revelling in his more advanced midfield role, last night. Taylor’s speed off the mark and his running power is reminiscent of a Posh great from the 1970s in Bobby Doyle and that is high praise indeed. Bottom line is Taylor and Bannon are exceptional players at this level and you’d be happy have either in your side.

4) The coaching team at Sheffield Wednesday are no mugs. They will come up with a plan to combat the brilliance on the ball Posh showed last night. Ditching the back three is a real possibility for a team that need to score at least five to win without the need for penalties. But Posh would be mad to change anything in terms of personnel or style of play. They ran all over Wednesday for a lot of the second half last night, particularly in midfield areas where Oliver Norburn and Hector Kyprianou were impressive foils for Taylor. Posh could well be pushed back more often at Hillsborough, but it’s a certainty they won’t take a voluntary backwards step. When Joe Ward was set free down the right wing seven minutes from time last night he looked up and saw three players hurtling into the penalty area and a couple of others weren’t that far behind. How many other teams would commit that many men forward when 3-0 up with so little time remaining? None I suspect. Posh were rewarded for their positivity. The same approach could pay dividends again at Hillsborough.

5) The play-offs are the greatest football invention, but they are brutal. Sheffield Wednesday collected 96 points (a record for team not going up automatically) in the regular season and now they need to break an EFL play-off record just to get to Wembley for the final. No team has ever overturned a three-goal first leg deficit never mind a four-goal disadvantage.

6) That Posh haven’t missed popular and gifted on-loan left-back Nathanael Ogebta is the biggest compliment one can pay Harrison Burrows. He’s been defensively robust, while still making things happen in the attacking third. Nathan Thompson could be fit to return next week, but he shouldn’t be selected in front of Joe Ward who has proved his versatility again in recent weeks.