Peterborough United need to 'man up' and show they can compete in a 'tough' League One this season

The Posh boss believes that it will be an even tougher division than last season and was speaking after his side were beaten 2-0 on the opening day at Valley Parade by Bradford City.

Posh held out under a barrage of Bradford attacks in the first half but succummed in the second thanks to goals from Macaulay Gillesphey and Nick Powell.

Williams recognised the tough physical nature of the opposition but told his team they they would be tested like they were on Saturday many times this season and they must be ready.

He said: “It was a very, very difficult game against a really good side, especially here. They are very difficult to play against and we found it difficult.

“It’s a shame to concede the way we did. We defended the corners pretty well up to that point. They are very well equipped for the set pieces and we’ve worked so hard on defending and attacking them but we came unstuck. They got a foothold in the game and it was difficult after that.

“We wanted to stay in the game; if we could have scored to equalise then it gives a different feeling but that was probably it after the second goal.

“Both teams were direct and we struggled to cope with that at times. We caused a few problems but they are a difficult team to play against; they are physically very well-equipped and organised. For the most part, we defended pretty well against them.

“We tried to cause them as many problems as we could and to try and match up their back three. We have a lot of pace and we tried to get the ball forward the them to use that. We didn’t want to come here and get caught out trying to play too many intricate passes. That’s why conceding the first goal how we did was so tough. We needed to make the first breakthrough.

“We tried to get the front players on the ball and give them space to run into but we couldn’t quite make the breakthrough.

“David’s red card is a shame. I don’t think there’s any malice in it, he tried to flick the ball and he’s not a small lad. When he lifts his foot up high, that’s most people’s head height. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to deal with that and patch up the backline for the next game.

“The league is incredibly tough, there is going to be a lot of places we are going to play like this. We have to man up and show that we can compete against really well put together teams. It’s going to be tough division, tougher than last season.”

Posh play their first home match of the season on Saturday as they host Mansfield Town. The Stags kicked off their season with a 2-1 home win over Doncaster on Saturday.