Posh defender Nathan Thompson is looking on the bright side: 'We are fourth and we haven't hit anywhere near top form'

Experienced Peterborough United defender Nathan Thompson is looking on the bright side of life.
Nathan Thompson of Peterborough United in action against Shrewsbury Town. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.Nathan Thompson of Peterborough United in action against Shrewsbury Town. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.
Nathan Thompson of Peterborough United in action against Shrewsbury Town. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

There was much doom and gloom among the club’s fanbase, and frustration within the playing squad, as Posh slumped to a 3-1 second round FA Cup defeat at Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.

All the goals arrived in the first-half with Posh then missing a succession of scoring chances at the start of the second half.

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It was a third straight disappointing away loss against League One opponents, but Thompson insists the positives must be taken from the second-half performance and from the situation the club now find themselves in.

Posh are back in League One action next Friday when promotion rivals Barnsley visit the Weston Homes Stadium.

“Of course wanted an FA Cup run, but we’re out so it’s just the league for us now,” Thompson said. “And that will have its benefits. For a start, taking away the Christmas programme, we won’t have any midweek matches until February so we can get plenty of rest and preparation time between games.

"And to be frank we’re fourth in the table without hitting top form. Okay the top three have opened up a gap on the rest, but there is an awfully long way to go and any team can beat any other team in this division.

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"It’s about putting a run of results together and we’re fully capable of doing that. Once we get starterd hopefully we won’t stop. We have the experience in the side and we have players up top who will score goals.

"There can be no more excuses though, We have to iron out our mistakes and take the momentum from the second-half of the Shrewsbury game into the Barnsley match.”

Thompson shouldered the blame for the first Shrewsbury goal which arrived in the second minute after allowing Jordan Shipley to escape down the left wing before delivering a cross that was expertly swept home by Tom Bayliss.

"We can’t start games the way we did this one,” Thompson added. “I hold my hands up for the first one. The gaffer said at half-time we can’t keep making these mistakes and hope to get where we want to be. The only way out of it is to work hard and grind results out.

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"We gave ourselves a mountain to climb at half-time, especially conceding the third goal on the stroke of half-time which gave them a big enough buffer to sit deep in the second half.

"And yet we still created a good seven or eight chances without managing to score. That’s just a sign of where we are right now as earlier in the season they might have gone in and we would have had a comfortable afternoon.

"There were still plenty of positives in the second-half and we have to use that momentum to get back on track. At Bristol the previous weekend we created next to nothing.”