Portsmouth were 'lucky' to beat Peterborough United and anyone who does not admit it is 'kidding themselves' insists Darren Ferguson

Pompey kept their five-point lead at the top thanks to a 1-0 win courtesy of substitute Kusuni Yengi’s 77th minute strike following a counter-attack.

Posh hit the underside of the bar in the early stages through Ephron Mason-Clark, but did not seriously test former keeper Will Norris despite plenty of possession.

The defeat was especially damaging as second-place Derby were 1-0 victors over Bolton, meaning Posh have slipped seven points off the automatic promotion places with a game in hand.

They were not overtaken by Barnsley in fifth, however, as the Tykes were held 0-0 at home by struggling Cheltenham.

Ferguson was proud of his team’s performance, particularly that of midfielder Ryan De Havilland - who was drafted in to replace the suspended Hector Kyprianou - but gutted his players could not get the result he felt they deserved.

Ferguson said: “There’s more than a sense of disappointment with the result. I’m really proud of the performance as we were by far the better team.

“They’re lucky, they’re lucky to come away with a win. If anyone from Portsmouth says otherwise then they are kidding themselves.

“It can be a cruel game and we just couldn’t get that first goal. We need a bit of luck in big games, but we’ve had Ephron hit the underside of the bar, yet performance-wise, I was really proud of them.

“We controlled large parts of the game, while their plan was to just get it forward and use Colby Bishop to win the balls and second balls. When we passed the ball, some of our play was fantastic. Our game plan was good and Joel Randall was outstanding. He was always finding space.

“I’m disappointed for the players because they didn’t deserve that result and some of our play was excellent.

“From the moment the second half started, we were well in control. We just didn’t have that clinical touch. The amount of opportunities we got that could have created chances, but we didn’t because the final ball was disappointing.

“We can have no complaints about the performance. If we play like that for the last eight games though, we will be fine.

"I said before the game, we need to give a really good performance to win the game, but unfortunately we got the first part without getting the most important part.

“I’ve got really good choices up front. I started with Malik Mothersille because of the tighter spaces there would be and he’s better in there, but when the games opens up, Ricky Jade-Jones is a real asset.

“Ryan De Havilland was outstanding. He played really, really well. I was delighted for him. As a team, it was a good performance but you’d rather have a bad performance and win, a bit like we did on Wednesday.”

Due to the international break, Posh do not return to action until Good Friday on March 29, when they host bottom-side Carlisle. The Cumbrians are 16 points adrift at the bottom of the table.