Showing some fight, desire and urgency is one way of quietening the ever-growing army of Peterborough United critics

Show some desire and fight when defending your penalty area would be a good start. Pass the ball positively and at pace is another obvious suggestion. Take a risk in possession now and again rather than safely finding teammates stood behind or alongside you. It’s stupefyingly dull to watch for a start even if it is good for the possession stats the data chaps at the club will claim are important.

You never know those changes might even lead to a positive result and my goodness Posh need one, even at this early stage of a season.

Defeats can be acceptable if the attitude is strong and you’ve played some good football, or suffered some great misfortune. None of this happened at Accrington Stanley on Tuesday night as Posh bowed tamely out of the Carabao Cup at their first hurdle, and deservedly so 2-1 at the hands of League Two opposition.

And if you believe these words are too harsh find the playback button on Sky Sports Plus to hear manager Darren Ferguson’s running commentary on proceedings. He was breathing fire for most of the game as he watched an 80-minute horror show unfold.

Posh leaked goals to two set-pieces including one after 35 seconds from a long throw. The second arrived on 25 minutes from an abysmally defended free kick. Every delivery before and after into the penalty area caused panic among a defence that contained three of the current first-choice back four, as did the regular hoofs forward.

Posh predictably enjoyed the bulk of possession, but did nothing with it until the latter stages. The team’s first shot took 31 minutes to arrive, and it was a dead-ball struck rather ambitiously at goal from 40 yards by Harley Mills. The first strike on target happened 10 minutes into the second-half when Gustav Lindgren latched on to a quick free kick pass from Mills to force a save from home ‘keeper Oliver Wright.

Substitute winger Cian Hayes did inject some impetus when he came on and when his lovely cross was headed home by Archie Collins 10 minutes from time it did create some long-awaited urgency. But it was too frantic at times. and yet too hesitant at other times, and it was also too late as the hosts, who have suffered some terrible beatings at the hands of Posh over the years, defended rather comfortably, even throughout eight minutes of added time.

Posh made five changes to their Saturday line-up with goalkeeper Vicente Reyes and forwards Klaidi Lolos and Kyrell Lisbie making their first starts for the club. Right-back James Dornelly and striker Lindgren also came in. Under 18 scoring sensation Bolo Shofowoke was on the substitutes’ bench, but there was no place in the matchday squad for centre forward Brad Ihionvien.

Accrington made seven changes to their Saturday starting XI. Midfielder Ben Woods, a reported transfer target for Posh, was not in the League Two side’s squad.

Posh were seeking a confidence boost after two straight League One defeats, but instead the first-half just added fuel to the critics who believe a shocking squad has been assembled.

Posh looked flimsy physically and weak mentally with Reyes picking the ball out his net in the first minute. He actually made a decent save to keep out a misdirected David Okagbue header from a long throw, but Alex Henderson was on hand to convert the rebound.

Reyes then had to scamper out of his goal to just beat Anjola Popoola to a poor Dornelly backpass, but the respite was brief as a free kick from the right was horribly defended with Henderson given too much time to pick out an equally unmarked Kelsey Mooney to make it 2-0 from close range. The performance of the current first-choice centre-backs was worrying and explained the impending arrival of a 34 year-old.

Posh dominated the ball either side of the second-half, but they created little, well nothing in fact. The passing, through what looked like a midfield diamond, was slow and imprecise. The touch further forward was poor, although Lisbie ran hard enough got cause some home concern.

Ring rusty Lolos was substituted as planned at the break and replaced by Abraham Odoh and the diamond was abandoned, probably for good while the current squad remains.

But little changed. Brandon Khela saw a couple of decent strikes at goal blocked. A succession of corners never looked like being converted and when Hayes and Odoh did get in behind the home defence in that added time defenders arrived in the nick of time to secure a win the TV commentators kept claiming was a shock.

That is a matter of opinion. Those who have been sharpening their knives will beg to differ such is the low opinion they have of their team. Remarkably, in the current circumstances, over 200 Posh fans made the trip up North in a total crowd of under 1,000.

Posh: Vicente Reyes, Harley Mills, Oscar Wallin, David Okagbue, James Dornelly (sub Lucca Mendonca, 70 mins), Archie Collins, Brandon Khela (sub Bolu Shofowoke, 90 + 4 mins), Donay O’Brien-Brady, Kyrell Lisbie (sub Cian Hayes, 63 mins), Klaidi Lolos (sub Abraham Odoh, 46 mins), Gustav Lindgren.

Unused subs: Bastian Smith, George Nevett, Joe Andrews,

Accrington: Oliver Wright, Freddie Sass, Farrend Rawson, Kelsey Mooney, Alex Henderson (sub Isaac Sinclair 40 mins), Logan Pye (sub Donald Love, 59 mins), Devon Matthews, Anjola Popoola (sub Josh Woods, 59 mins), Charlie Brown (sub Finlay Tunstall, 78 mins), Dan Martin (sub Liam Coyle, 59 mins), Seamus Conneely.

Unused subs: James Rogerson, Charlie Caton.

GOALS: Posh – Collins (80 mins).

Accrington – Henderson (1 min), Mooney (25 mins).

CAUTIONS: Posh – Lolos (foul), Lisbie (dissent).

Accrington – Henderson (unsportsmanlike conduct), Brown (foul), Pye (foul), Martin (foul), Love (foul), Sass (time wasting).

Referee: Aaron Bannister 5.

Attendance: 847 (233 Posh).