Peterborough United still struggling to kill off games, but Darren Ferguson hails his side's character after latest comeback win
Manager Darren Ferguson has hailed the character of his Peterborough United side as they came from behind to win on the road for the second Saturday in a row.
Posh fell behind behind at Exeter in just the fourth minute but, just like at Shrewsbury the weekend before, Posh equalised within minutes when Malik Mothersille slid in his first of the season.
The victory was secured on the stroke of half-time when Emmanuel Fernandez stunned onlookers with a 30-yard strike that managed to evade the dive of home keeper Joe Whitworth.
Posh had to hold on in the second half, but could have made lives easier for themselves if they had scored one of a number of chances they had, including a penalty that Archie Collins tamely struck at the keeper.
While pleased with the character his side showed on the road again, Ferguson admitted that his side are still struggling to show a clinical edge of kill off sides.
Ferguson said: “It was a bit of a game of two halves. They started really well and we started really poorly and gave a goal away, but for the second week running we’ve responded within a couple of minutes.
“In the second half, we changed a couple of things in and out of possession - we had to be more aggressive - and we got much more control. From the first minute of the second half, the game should be over; Joel is clean through and then we miss chance after chance, including the penalty.
Our back four and goalkeeper were much, much better in the second half. We defended set pieces very well, they must have had double figures and they put good deliveries in. The determination to win the game was good.
“I knew this would be a very difficult game because they have so many different movements and rotations. We didn’t deal with it well enough in the first half and they surprised us by playing two up front, but we once we worked it out, we were pretty dominant in the second half. We’ve now picked up six points away from home after going behind. That shows good character.
“We’ve got a lot to improve on still though, regardless of results and we’ve got a lot of similarities to last season. Nothing was really going to change apart from personnel, but you can still see us controlling games and failing to kill the game off.
"We have to get one of Ricky-jade Jones or Malik scoring goals on a regular basis, but for Malik it’s great for him to get off the mark. It wasn’t the cleanest of strikes, but he hit the target after a good pass from Odoh. We knew winning the ball in central areas would hurt them, as it showed, and we should have had far more goals.
“Ricky was outstanding when he came on. He was brave for the penalty because he knows he’s going to take one and the run that set up Kwame. I’ve never had a quicker player, he’s incredible. It’s a really good win for us though and an important one.”
The win moved Posh up to 7th in the early season table, level on points with Lincoln in sixth ahead of a home game against Wrexham on Saturday (August 31). Phil Parkinson’s side comfortably beat Reading 3-0 at the Racecourse Ground yesterday.
Ferguson also confirmed that Kabongo Tshimanga will be joining League Two side Swindon Town in a loan deal after an improved offer was submitted.