There was a lot to admire about Peterborough United, but squad shortcomings remain obvious even if a new Jack Taylor has arrived

When confidence is low and harsh words are flung in your direction – justifiably so to be fair – anything to remove some of the heat will be welcomed.

But, as well as Posh battled, and as strong as their work ethic was, supplemented by commendable spirit and attitude, during a 1-1 draw with Bradford City at the Weston Homes Stadium on Saturday, the squad’s shortcomings were all too evident again.

An error prone defence, and the lack of pure creativity or a natural goalscorer, will always hold a team back no matter how much midfield dominance and dashing wingplay is delivered.

With that in mind new signings remain a must. Peter Kioso, a morale-boosting arrival if ever there was one, could be described as window dressing as he doesn’t cure any of the problems above, so hopefully some less than enthusiastic post-match transfer comments from manager Darren Ferguson are a smokescreen and more re-inforcements arrive before the deadline on September 1 and even before Posh travel to play an eminently winnable fixture at Exeter City next Saturday.

TALKING POINTS FROM POSH 1, BRADFORD 1…

1) Tom Lees could be the defensive cure. At his best and fittest the veteran definitely would be, but that undisclosed contract length suggests to me there are at least minor concerns regarding a knee injury that kept him out from the end of February onwards last season. Lees has been working with young George Nevett in training so he’s already made an impact as the 19 year-old has delivered back-to-back best Posh performances. There was a school of thought that a hard-pressing, physical visiting team would unsettle Nevett, but he stood up to everything thrown at him pretty well, while his comfort on the ball was again evident.

2) Posh had a mixed day trying to play through the Bradford press. There were a couple of alarms before the break and another early in the second-half before Brandon Khela was dispossessed to enable his former club to open the scoring. It’s hard to see Posh playing any other way though. It’s pointless going long and straight, especially when Gustav Lindgren starts up top. It was easy to feel sorry for the Swede at times when he was given aerial balls to contest which he had no hope of winning. If Posh don’t get the ball moving through the thirds quickly Lindgren’s off the ball running becomes pointless. It remains clear an understanding with teammates remains elusive for a forward in desperate need of a goal.

3) Matt Garbett might help once he settles into the starting line-up, next weekend hopefully. One prominent Posh fan was quick to compare the Kiwi midfielder to Jack Taylor after the game and he certainly has a similar build. Posh are making a conscious effort to sign bigger players and a midfield of Garbett and fellow six-footer Khela alongside Archie Collins, who regularly bests bigger men, would be physically competitive at League One level. Donay O’Brien-Brady, a favourite of the manager and chairman, was left out of the squad yesterday and wasn’t injured.

4) It never ceases to amaze me that teams who are totally dominant in a game suddenly stop doing what has taken them into the lead and start to slow the game down instead. I guess it works a lot of the time and, with a referee who showed no interest in hurrying anyone along yesterday, it almost did again. Instead it bit Bradford in the backside. Posh creaked for 10 minutes after conceding and only improved when Ferguson sent four subs on at which point Bradford retreated and, although Posh didn’t create much, there was always a danger they will get one chance and take it, which they did. Posh had shown so much defensive vulnerability yesterday it was bizarre to see the visitors back off.

5) Ferguson’s substitutions backfired against Barnsley in the previous Posh match, but in this one they worked like a dream. Cian Hayes is far more effective from the bench running at and stressing out tiring defenders than he is starting when he seems to run of puff quite quickly. The relatively few glimpses we’ve seen so far of Kyrell Lisbie and Declan Frith make me wonder whether or not Posh will abandon trying to sign winger Ethon Archer from Cheltenham and instead go all out for a new centre forward.