Posh boss defends his goalkeeper and praises his substitutes after defeat at Burton

Pym fumbled a harmless cross from Jonny Smith which enabled Kane Hemmings to tap home the opening goal of a tight game early in the second-half.

Within three minutes Pym and striker Jonson Clarke-Harris appeared to get in each others way as Burton added a soft second goal through on-loan Blackburn defender Hayden Carter.

Posh substitute Harrison Burrows pulled a goal back with virtually the final kick of the game as Posh lost for the first time in eight League One matches. Fellow replacement Mo Eisa had missed two decent chances to get Posh back into the game.

But Ferguson said. “We win together and we lose together and Christy has baled us out many times this season. He’s a passionate lad and takes great pride in keeping clean sheets so he’s disappointed, but no-one is blaming him.

“He made a great save in the first half which is about all he had to do as we defended the long throws and the set-pieces well.

“Mo had two great chances. He didn’t catch the first one well enough and he put too much on the second one. His movement was very good though. I was quite pleased with him apart from the finishing. He got himself into great positions which is encouraging.

“Harrison was very good again, even before he scored. He’s really pushing for a start. He’s training well and he’s confident. I want the players who are not in the team to push those who are and Harrison and Mo have both done that.”

Ferguson confirmed top scorer Clarke-Harris, who had been a fitness doubt ahead of the game, was substituted in the 64th minute for tractical reasons rather than an injury concern.

“Jonson just wasn’t playing well enough,” Ferguson stated. “He’s a great lad who has been outstanding for us all season, but he was off it in this game. He had two scans and did a spot of training on Saturday morning so he was fine physically.

“The front players didn’t do enough. Dembele was lively, but Joe Ward’s crossing was erratic.”