Peterborough United's start has improved from horrific to merely lamentable, but hope and justifiable optimism have returned

Posh are 23rd having played more games than most while conceding more goals than any other team in the division. They’ve lost 6 of 9 games and scored just 7 goals, one fewer than Port Vale.

But they now have hope, as well as some momentum, because they far have better players on board compared to some who started the season. Hope is all it is for now though. The great expectations can be left to podcasts. It’s a certainty, although manager Darren Ferguson has had a pair of enjoyable weekends, he will remain grounded in the reality provided by the League One table.

Saturday’s 1-0 win at Plymouth Argyle did at least get Posh off the bottom. Small steps and all that.

TALKING POINTS FROM PLYMOUTH 0, POSH 1….

1) It’s only fair that, after spending the best part of 18 months slamming the club’s recruitment, high praise has to be offered to those who scouted, and in a couple of cases paid for, Alex Bass, Matthew Garbett, Tom O’Connor, JJ Morgan and Harry Leonard, as well was whoever persuaded Tom Lees to accept an undisclosed, but most likely unusual, contract. Brandon Khela is improving at the same rate as the team. Kudos also to those who have assisted George Nevett’s transformation from suspected weakling to super hero. The jury remains out on Jacob Mendy and it could be Cian Hayes becomes first choice left wing-back, especially in games when Posh are expected to dominate the ball. He would have the comfort blanket of a fine player in O’Connor behind him to cover for any defensive weaknesses.

2) We also had our first glimpse of August recruit Ben Woods at Plymouth and first impressions were favourable. He’s an imposing physical presence in a team suddenly boasting several such specimens. Clearly he’s a fan of the tackle, but he looked decent enough on the ball. Posh have many riches in midfield areas and once the link between playmakers and two lively young forwards becomes more natural in terms of the timing of passing and runs the poor goals return this season will soon improve. When it happened yesterday Posh won a penalty and created a couple of decent late chances.

3) StrikerJJ Morgan has 3 goals in 3 games. All finishes have been simple, but it’s a skill of a natural goal-scorer to instinctively anticipate where a ball will land in the opposition penalty area and the Chelsea loanee clearly has it. It’s a bit of a worry that a 19 year-old seems physically incapable of playing more than an hour. He played 16 times for Gillingham in League Two last season so men’s football is not entirely new to him, but Posh finished the game strongly without him yesterday – an indication of greater squad depth – so it’s not an immediate concern.

4) Mercifully, optimistic shouts of a play-off push have been thin on the ground. Getting out of the bottom 4 is the next priority and upcoming fixtures look tough, but it’s already looking likely no-one will get away from the pack a la Birmingham City this season. Those who have the biggest transfer war chests seem ordinary. Posh are one game away from playing 10 times which is usually when Ferguson starts paying attention to the table. He might conclude that many currently riding high won’t last the pace and that many labouring in the bottom half of the table might come good. The latter can probably be expected of Wycombe, Reading, Plymouth and Blackpool, and it’s not an entirely biased opinion to suggest Posh also belong in that group. The spine in the side is strong, the defence is organised and robust, and the attacking threat should become more consistent as fitness and understandings improve.

5) There has to be a mention of a miracle save from Posh goalkeeper Alex Bass at Plymouth. The speed of the keeper’s reactions to tip a superbly-struck 8 yard volley onto the crossbar was as big a moment as the game’s only goal. It didn’t entirely make his second-half sit down to try and halt Plymouth momentum forgivable though. Everyone in the stadium knows it’s a charade and yet it’s become accepted practice. Those who were happy enough to applaud the dark arts yesterday will be those complaining when the opposition inevitably does the same.

6) Plymouth’s ‘ghost’ goal yesterday made the claim for goal-line technology in the lower divisions pretty strongly. I would imagine the position of Bass made it impossible for the assistant referee to see clearly where the ball bounced. Those in the press box were aware the ball had crossed the line within seconds of the incident thanks to rapid replays on screens.

7) Devon is a lovely part of the world, but even so 536 fans making a near-600 mile round trip to watch a team that was bottom of the table is some effort.