Peterborough United have gambled their immediate future on an out-of-form squad and the return of Kwame Poku

Yes, I know we signed four players last month which helped us grind out a couple of decent results at home, but anyone watching the last two away games – Posh lost them by an aggregate of 8-2 to midest opponents – would question whether or not that was enough.

Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony is a top salesman and a natural orator. Every time I listen to him I feel enthused and optimistic about the immediate future, but then I go to a game. It’s hard to reconcile his insistence – he said it again while defending questionable optics about appearing on high profile media shows at a time of great stress at London Road – that Posh already had players good enough to surge up the League One table, with the performances of a team who have failed to cure their defensive woes, while also losing their attacking flair. They find it hard enough to win tackles never mind matches

Amid all the defensive criticism it’s worth noting Posh have only scored two goals in a game once since beating Crawley 4-3 on December 14 and that was at a Burton team who started the day bottom of the table. And Posh didn’t win.

Anyway transfer talk can stop now in favour of helping this young squad find the spirit, commitment and fighting levels that are required as much as quality at the bottom end of the table. Manager Darren Ferguson has been dealt his hand for the final three months of the season and if he can somehow keep this squad in this division it would rank highly among his many Posh achievements. He needs to for the sake of his own reputation as he has taken responsibility for a summer recruitment strategy that has misfired badly.

Injuries to key men haven’t helped of course. The imminent return of Kwame Poku will be a bigger boost than any deadline day signing of a Premier League reserve you’ve never heard of. The loss of Hector Kyprianou was also a blow, although his form before and after the hamstring injury was far below the heights of last season.

Club captain Kyprianou has suddenly become unpopular with some fans, but I was pleased Posh rebuffed an attempt by Watford to sign him yesterday. It would have been easy to cash in, and sensible from a financial point of view, on a player who will now leave on a free transfer in the summer, but it would have been dangerous for the club’s prospects this season without signing a replacement. It’s the same with Ricky-Jade Jones. Ferguson now needs to remind both players how good they can be at this level. Certainly Kyprianou is a proven performer and there’s a simple way for him to restore his reputation with supporters. Playing with obvious passion would be a start.

Transfer deadline day turned out to be pretty dull with under 21 midfielder Joe Andrews the only Posh arrival and he immediately returned to Chippenham Town. Most of the fun arrived in the few days before with bizarre suggestions that Posh had rejected a £500k bid from QPR for young left-back Harley Mills and Norwich City had made a ‘huge’ bid for erratic centre-back Emmanuel Fernandez, actually the last one turned to out to be true. Maybe that sale would have persuaded Posh to strengthen, but ‘The Canaries’ withdrew their offer, possibly after reading the reaction of those who regularly attend matches at London Road.

An optimist would say Posh have held their nerve and backed the most successful manager in the club’s history to get Kyprianou, Jones and Archie Collins performing at their best, while also finding a defensive system that doesn’t creak, bend and then snap under the slightest pressure away from home.

A pessimist would wonder why the above would suddenly happen 30 games into a season. Why players who have struggled to make the step up from Rochdale, Fleetwood, Harrogate and Sweden would suddenly turn into Harrison Burrows and Ephron Mason-Clark.

It could be Posh only need 15 points or so from their final 17 games to survive which doesn’t sound that many with several relegation rivals still to play. It sounds an awful lot given current form though. Fingers crossed.