Peterborough United manager tells struggling striker to earn the right to play and explains why he let Mo Eisa take a penalty at Fleetwood Town

Mo Eisa with his head in his hands after missing a Posh penalty at Fleetwood. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

But Ferguson has warned the 25 year-old he has to earn the right to play in the final 11 matches of the League One season.

Eisa hasn’t scored since December 7 and missed a golden opportunity to boost his confidence by failing to convert an early penalty in last Saturday’s (February 15) 2-1 defeat at Fleetwood.

Eisa had replaced suspended top scorer Ivan Toney in that game.

Toney is also banned from the next Posh match at Burton Albion on February 29, but Eisa, who scored 15 goals in 21 games before his current barren run, is not certain to play.

Idris Kanu, who played well at Fleetwood after replacing Eisa, and teenager Ricky-JadeJones are pushing for a starting place alongside Siriki Dembele.

Posh have a reserve team game against Sheffield United next Tuesday (February 25) when Eisa will play.

“I will make my mind up who plays at Burton after that game,” Ferguson said.

“It’s up to Mo to convince me he should play.

“It doesn’t matter to me who I pick. Nothing matters to me other than players performing well enough to get in and stay in the team. I will just pick the team I think will beat Burton.

“Siriki was in the same boat as Mo earlier in the season as he couldn’t get a game, but he forced me to pick him.

“I haven’t lost faith in Mo and I might still play him at Burton, but Idris was very good when he came on at Fleetwood and Ricky has done nothing wrong all season.

“I felt it was right move to let Mo take the penalty at Fleetwood. It was the easiest way for him to get a goal and give his confidence a boost, but the penalty was awful and it went the other way and made things worse for him.”

Posh dropped from secdond to fourth after their six-game winning run came to an end.