Peterborough United manager takes responsibility for bad results, but here's how his players can help him

But the boss insists his players must therefore have the confidence and belief to follow his tactical instructions to the letter. He felt that didn’t happen in Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at Charlton Athletic, even though he was impressed with the resilience his players showing after being reduced to 10 men by a red card for central defender Emmanuel Fernandez early in the second half.

Fernandez is now suspended for the next four League One games starting at Stevenage on Saturday, but that doesn’t mean Ferguson will abandon the 3-4-1-2 formation he employed from the start at the Valley. Teenage central defender George Nevett will return to the squad tomorrow.

Striker Gustav Lindgren has been ruled out because of a shoulder injury, but he shouldn’t be out for too long, depending on what a specialist says on Monday. Lindgren has not suffered a break or a dislocation. Brad Ihionvien is not expected to replace Lindgren after picking up a niggly injury during an under 21 game this week.

Ferguson said: “The responsibility for the results is mine so the players must play the way I want them to play. We showed excellent resilience with 10 men at Charlton, but we had no control of the game apart from the first 10-15 minutes when we slipped the strikers in on four occasions. That’s what I wanted us to do, but there were reasons we didn’t. We have to respect we were playing against a very good in-form side away from home and our confidence levels are not where they could be.

"A win away from home would certainly help in that respect so we’ve spent time since Charlton reminding the players about how hard to play against we can be when we get things right. We’ve shown them the good stuff we’ve delivered this season and there has been plenty of it. We just need to play the way we want to play. We recruited to play in a certain way. We reminded them what we need to achieve tactically to deliver the best chance of winning games.

"Far better teams than us have become unrecognisable compared to a few months earlier. These things happen. It’s human nature and we are dealing with human beings here. It’s easy to forget, but there are 16 games left. That’s more than a third of a season and 48 points to play for so there’s time for us to get things right again.

"I still have the players to play three at the back or four at the back. With four at the back and with 10 men at Charlton we showed great determination, but we still didn’t have any control.

"We are the only ones who can change the form. Opponents are not suddenly going to stop and make it easier. Tomorrow we face a team who are having a very good season even though they have lost their last two games. They’ve had some impressive results recently beating Barnsley and Wrexham so it’s another tough challenge.

"They will be organised without the ball and they will press us and we have to be good enough and resilient enough to overcome that. I know our support will be good again. They travelled in their numbers to Bristol on a Sunday and to Charlton on a Tuesday. They are doing all they can to help us. They have been excellent and they deserve more than we’ve been giving them.”

Ferguson confirmed Lindgren’s injury is not as bad as first feared and on-loan defender Jadel Katongo is also recovering well from his latest hamstring injury. Star man Kwame Poku now has a chance of making the crucial home game with Shrewsbury on March 1.