REACTION: Posh boss insists his side beat themselves with a dreadful start and some woeful finishing

Posh boss Darren Ferguson insists his side beat themselves as they slipped to a disappointing 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Gillingham at the Weston Homes Stadium tonight (April 20).
Posh boss Darren Ferguson during the defeat by Gillingham. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.Posh boss Darren Ferguson during the defeat by Gillingham. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.
Posh boss Darren Ferguson during the defeat by Gillingham. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

Ferguson blamed a dreadful start to the game which saw the visitors score the only goal of the match in the 14th minute and some wasteful finishing.

Sunderland’s draw at leaders Hull means second-placed Posh still have a healthy seven-point lead over third-placed Sunderland but fourth-placed Lincoln, who won 1-0 at Burton tonight, are also seven points behind, but with a game in hand.

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It’s only the second time this season Posh have failed to score in a home League One match.

Sammie Szmodics of Peterborough United appeals to referee Sam Allison for a foul during the game against Gillingham. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.Sammie Szmodics of Peterborough United appeals to referee Sam Allison for a foul during the game against Gillingham. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.
Sammie Szmodics of Peterborough United appeals to referee Sam Allison for a foul during the game against Gillingham. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

“It’s a bad result,” Ferguson admitted. “And we only have ourselves to blame. You can’t start games like we started this one against any team never mind one that just likes to get the ball forward. The first 20 minutes have cost us the match. We treated the ball like a hot potato and played the game they wanted us to play. If we keep the ball they can’t put us under pressure, but we just didn’t do it at the start.

“These slow starts are happening too often. We were poor against Swindon for the first 20 minutes the other week when Siriki Dembele rescued us with two quick goals. You can’t keep relying on that and tonight we found a team able to take advantage. We just made the night tough for us. We gave them something to hold onto.

“Once we started passing the ball and showed some composure we were by far the better team, but 19 shots and only two on target tells a story as do five crosses into the six yard box with no return. We had some great opportunities.

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“It’s not like us not to take one of those chances and we had an unbelievable opportunity at the end through Ethan Hamilton, but nights like these happen and we have to regroup, get ready for Charlton and make sure we start the game better.

“We are still in a great position. We just need to remember how we got into this position after 42 matches.”

Posh are now four points off the top after Hull’s draw, but have a game in hand on the Tigers. Hull travel to Lincoln on Saturday (April 24).

Charlton moved up to sixth place with an impressive 6-0 win at Plymouth tonight.

Posh midfielder Reece Brown left the pitch tonight with a hamstring issue.