Peterborough United midfielder Jorge Grant hopes a change of manager will lead to better fortune for him and the team, plus pride in a great performance by a young team against Manchester City

Grant (27) didn’t play a single minute in Darren Ferguson’s last six matches at Posh boss, but he’s started two of the three games since the manager who signed him left London Road, including last night’s 2-0 defeat at to home to Manchester City in a fifth round FA Cup tie (March 1).

Grant is encouraged that new manager Grant McCann tried to sign him for Hull City from Lincoln City in the summer, but lost out to Ferguson and Posh.

“It’s been a very stop-start season for me,” Grant said. “I wasn’t playing at all in the final matches under the previous manager. I was sitting on the substitutes’ bench and not getting on which was frustrating as I felt I could contribute.

“It’s been great to be more involved and it’s down to me to prove I should be starting matches.

“It’s nice to know the new manager rated me and tried to sign me in the summer. There were several clubs trying to sign me and Hull were one of them although I never got around to speaking to Grant.”

Grant enjoyed the City game and said the team should be proud of the way they played against top-class opposition. He thought he had a chance to score early in the second-half, but Phil Foden nicked the ball off him as he prepared to shoot following a fine cutback by Josh Knight.

Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish scored the goals in a nine-minute second-half spell to seal victory for City.

“I was the oldest in the team,” Grant added. “So we whould be proud that such a young team played so well against one of the best teams in the world. We watch these players week in, week out on the TV so the opportunity to test yourself against them was very enjoyable.

“The gameplan was to be solid, to concentrate and not to concede an early goal and we carried it out really well in the first-half, but we also looked good on the counter attack. It was important we started well as conceding an early goal could have made it a long night.

“We had a great chance to score early in the second-half which was a key moment and then I thought I was going to have a chance, but Foden just beat me to the ball. They showed their quality in the end though particularly with the second goal which was a great pass, a great touch and a great finish.

“It was just a one-off game though. No-one expected us to win so it was easy to enjoy it. It’s back to the nitty-gritty of the league now and we need to pick up points quickly.”

Posh are back in Championship action at third-placed Huddersfield Town on Friday (March 4, 7.45pm). A draw would take Posh off the bottom of the table, but they need a win to make an inroad into an eight-point gap to Reading who sit just outside the relegation zone.