Peterborough United manager admits his side cannot afford any more slip ups in their bid for automatic promotion

A six-game winning streak in League One came to an end at Fleetwood last Saturday (February 15) as Posh slipped to a disappointing and frustrating 2-1 defeat.

With other results going against Posh they have slipped to fourth and they are likely to drop further down the table before they play again at Burton Albion on February 29.

Posh were scheduled to play Bury at London Road this Saturday, but the Shakers have been expelled from the Football League.

“We needed to win at Fleetwood,” Ferguson admitted. “That would have put us in a great position for the final 11 games and made it much harder for other teams to get past us.

“I fancied the teams around us would win their games and most of them did so it was disappointing to perform the way we did. It was a winnable game so it was a bad day for us.

“Obviously teams can overtake us when playing their games in hand, but we can’t affect those matches. All we can do is make sure we get back to winning ways at Burton.

“We have no more scope for error as far as automatic promotion is concerned, but we have just shown we are capable of a long winning run so we will try and win as many games as we can and see where it takes us.

“When we went up the last time from League One through the play-offs the top two had flown clear, but that’s not the case here and with everyone playing everyone else it’s a very hard league to predict.

“The only certainty is it will be close.

“Even Gillingham will fancy their chances after the brilliant run they’ve been on.

“In a way I will be pleased that teams can catch us up on games played as the table is currently a little realistic.

“And after Burton we will hopefully have a full squad to select from for the final 10 matches.”

Top scorer Ivan Toney will have completed a two-match suspension once the Burton match is out of the way.

His replacement Mo Eisa saw a penalty saved in the early stages of the defeat at Fleetwood.