Plenty of positives, but Peterborough United must keep standards high, insists boss Darren Ferguson

Posh moved into the semi finals, and just one game away from Wembley, with a 3-1 win over League Two opponents AFC Wimbledon at the Weston Homes Stadium.

Posh flew out of the blocks and scored twice in the opening four minutes, through Malik Mothersille and Ephron Mason-Clark, but had to wait until almost the final kick of the game before Ricky-Jade Jones rolled into an empty net to confirm their passage in the last four.

Ryan McLean’s header from a Dons corner after 89 minutes made for a nervy ending for Posh after a poor second half that saw their opponents dominate the ball.

Darren Ferguson’s made it through, however, and will face either Bradford, Blackpool or Brighton U21/Wycombe in a one-legged semi final tie.

Blackpool saw off League One promotion fancies Bolton on penalties after a 0-0 draw at Bloomfield Road last night while Bradford beat Grant McCann’s Doncaster 1-0 at home. Wycombe host Brighton U21s on Wednesday at 7pm.

Ferguson was able to find plenty of positives from his side’s performance. This included the performance of Romoney Crichlow at left-back, covering for the suspended Harrison Burrows.

Ferguson said: “We couldn’t ask for a better start, three minutes in and we were 2-0 up. We played really well in the first half, especially the first 30 minutes. We spoke about getting a fast start and getting at them and that’s exactly what we did.

“They were two really good goals, which I was delighted with. We were comfortably the better team and created more chances.

“We spoke at half time about making sure we were professional and started the half well. We did the exact opposite and gave them confidence and they started getting set-pieces. We weren’t under too much pressure, but we lost control of the game.

“We’ve got to keep our standards up for 90 minutes and we’ve got to find a way to start killing teams off because when you’re 2-0 up after three minutes with the quick players we’ve got, we should have at least got the third goal before half time.

“You’re always worried when a team scores so late and it’s a terrible goal we’ve given away. I wasn’t comfortable until Ricky went round the defender and scored, but you have to credit Wimbledon.

“I thought they would be more aggressive in the second half, but we allowed them to be. We kept giving the ball back to them and just didn’t get any control.

“When a team comes at you like that, you should move the ball quicker than we did and create more problems for them. We still created chances, but we should have been further ahead sooner.

“Romoney is not a natural left back, but he did absolutely fine. It’s another game for him, which I’m pleased about. He gives us balance with his left foot. I could have gone with a three, but wing backs probably wouldn’t have suited us with the players we had.

“All in all, it’s very pleasing but, in the second half we were sloppy and we can’t do that.

“I’m delighted with the win, being a win from Wembley and another three goals, there’s was lots of good stuff, we’ve got some freshness into Harrison, Hector and Ricky and I saw lots of good stuff. Josh Knight and Ronnie Edwards were absolutely outstanding.”

Posh will find out their opponents for the semi-final on Friday at around 6:15pm live on Sky Sports News. Ball numbers will be confirmed on Thursday.

The tie will take place on the week beginning February 19. The midweek in between Posh hosting Blackpool (February 17) and travelling to Cambridge (February 24).