Peterborough United manager frustrated by late collapse, but confident his side can stay up if they replicate the quality on show at Birmingham City

Posh goalkeeper Steven Benda makes a catch against Birmingham City. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

It was a difficult result for Posh to take though as they led 2-0 with just four minutes to go. The manager admitted it was a ‘bad’ result.

But Ferguson was still keen to take the positives from a fourth away point of the season, one that moved them to within two points of Reading who have played a game more. Posh remain in the relegation zone.

Ferguson said: “I have seen signs tonight that really pleased me. The overall result is a bad one. We just couldn’t keep our composure, but up until that point, I thought we were very good.

Kwame Poku of Peterborough United in action with Marc Roberts of Birmingham City. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com

“I actually thought at 2-2 we might nick it because they were still playing one-on-one against Callum Morton with his pace.

“People can go on about fitness but when it goes from 2-0 to 2-1 away from home, it becomes difficult.

“They’re leaving one-on-ones at the back and just ploughing the ball into the box and we’ve got Bali Mumba who’s played hardly any football, Kwame Poku, that’s his first proper action for us and Jack Marriott hasn’t had a game for months.

“Jonno’s workrate was fantastic, but he got some cramp and couldn’t move and because of that, I had to put Josh Knight on for his height, but just as I’m doing that, they score.”

Ferguson stressed again a need to focus on the mini leagues, which includes the bottom five sides, and match the levels they reached for much of tonight’s game.

Ferguson added: “Given the situation we are in, I have to take the positives out of the game. The fans have seen that we were really at it tonight. I just said to the players, that’s more like us and if we continue that on a consistent basis then we’ll stay up.

“We know there’s certain games we have to get results in and one of them was tonight. We felt we needed to get three points to help us in this mini league.

“It’s important we get performances in other games and we are at home on Saturday where our performances have been good. I think the mesage to the players is if we get that level of quality on consistent basis then I feel confident we’ll stay in the league.”

Posh host Sheffield United in a game to be televised live by Sky Sports on Saturday (January 29, 5.30pm kick off).