Playing so well and beating top opposition did not surprise Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson

Posh stretched their unbeaten run in all competitions to eight matches with a comprehensive 3-0 win. Ferguson was delighted with his players apart from a failure to convert several second-half scoring chances.

The win lifted Posh nine points and six places clear of the relegation zone ahead of two away games at play-off chasing Reading (March 29) and Crawley Town (April 1). Crawley did Posh a huge favour today by beating Bristol Rovers 1-0. Rovers are three points behind Posh as are Northampton Town who went down 2-0 at home to Blackpool and Ferguson’s side have a game in hand on both of them. Posh also went above Exeter City who drew 0-0 at Lincoln City.

"It was an important game for us and I had a feeling we would deliver a performance, “ Ferguson said. “We had to get things right in possession against a team that is very aggressive, but if we could beat the press I expected us to have too much pace for them and so it proved. For us to play with the confidence to pass through them like we did was very encouraging. The players look like they are enjoying their football which is very important.

"We did well to get 2-0 up by half-time. Kwame Poku showed his composure and quality to set up the first goal for Sam and we scored a second after a great counter-attack. We tried to calm everyone down at half-time while also urging them to go and get the next goal. That was the one frustration as we missed four unbelievable chances and we could have been 5-0 up after an hour.

"Malik missed a couple, while Ibby (Odoh) didn’t score when the goalkeeper was on the floor. You just pray those misses don't come back to haunt you, but we did eventually get the third goal and we were comfortable after that against a team with a lot of quality who threw a lot of men forward and delivered a lot of balls into the penalty area.

"We do need to start taking more of the chances we create, but the good thing is we are creating so many. There was a lot of relief after we scored the third goal and that’s eight games unbeaten which proves we have found consistency in terms of results. We’ve played against, and not lost to, Wrexham, Wycombe, Huddersfield and Charlton in that run and they are all in the top six in League One. But there is a long way to go yet and we are certainly not thinking about next season or even Wembley next month.

"The most important thing for me is for us to keep the foot down and keep pushing. I won’t think about Wembley until the morning of the game as it’s the least important game we have left and I haven't heard any of the players talk about it either which is what I want.”

Posh play League One champions-elect Birmingham City in the Vertu Trophy Final at Wembley on Sunday, April 13.