REACTION: Posh boss admits problems at both ends of the pitch cost his side at Burton Albion

Two goals in three minutes early in the second-half condemned Posh to a first defeat in eight matches. Harrison Burrows’ first senior goal came too late to make a difference.

Hull’s 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers took them back to the top of the table on goal difference from second-placed Posh. The teams meet at the Weston Homes Stadium on Tuesday (March 9, 7pm).

Ferguson said: “It was a disappointing day, but we have not had too many of them lately. Quite simply, it is not hard to analyse why we lost the game. We were not good enough in both boxes. Funnily enough that is the last thing I said to the players before the game and it is what has cost us.

“We gave away two cheap goals, the first one in particular. It was poor to concede a second goal so quickly after that as we still had a long way to go in the game at that point.

“We created opportunities, but the composure and quality wasn’t there. You are losing games if you are not good enough in both boxes.

“The game panned out as I expected. We had a lot of the ball. We had 18 shots at goal and 28 crosses, but the quality wasn’t there.

“Combine that with conceding two soft goals at the other end and you will usually lose. We looked good physically and it was nothing to do with the attitude because that was there, but we just wasn’t good enough at either end.

“Even with 10 minutes to go, I felt if we got one goal we could get back into it.

“But it was a disappointing result and performance. This can happen over the course of a season. We can’t get down about it just as we weren’t getting carried away with the winning run.

“We need to react well now. We need to move on quickly. We can’t get this result back. We have to look ahead and it is the perfect game for us on Tuesday to do that. I think it is a great game for us on Tuesday.

“I’ve said for a long time the teams that react best to defeats will be the ones who are successful this season.”