Why Peterborough United's FA Cup result could prove better than Bolton's in the long run, the Championship class Posh players and please make 11 changes for EFL Trophy game!

There are more important matches on the horizon. There are more realistic goals to achieve.

Of course it would have been a feather in the Posh cap to have claimed the scalp of an exciting Leeds United team on Sunday. I’m guessing manager Darren Ferguson would have delivered a wry smile if those visiting fans who spent much of the afternoon singing vile chants about him and his family had returned home unhappy.

But in the grand scheme of an entire season a 3-0 defeat, although a little harsh given how the game panned out, is an irrelevance once removing the possible financial gains from a long FA Cup run.

Indeed I’d go as far as to say Posh could have gained a better long-term outcome than their League One promotion rivals Bolton Wanderers who achieved an excellent 0-0 third round draw at Premier League Luton Town.

Bolton now have an extra game to fit in. They might well beat the Hatters at home and miss another League One Saturday. They’ve already played fewer games than anyone else in the top five. They are still in the EFL Trophy, a competition they won last season so there are now distractions aplenty.

For Posh it’s League One all the way with the EFL Trophy campaign set to contested by the club’s back-up boys. Or at least it should be. League One is so weak this season it should be the Championship or bust for Posh.

OTHER TALKING POINTS FROM POSH 0, LEEDS 3…

1) This is not meant as a criticism of Jadel Katongo who is a young centre-back, but boy Posh missed Peter Kioso’s surging runs up the right wing yesterday. Kwame Poku was ineffective which might also have had something to with the absence of his regular running mate. I’m not sure the money Posh might soon get for Jonson Clarke-Harris will go into a Kioso fund. The 24 year-old would still have to take a significant drop in wages to sign a permanent deal at London Road.

2) Posh should have been 2-0 down after seven minutes against Leeds. They were 2-0 down before rallying against Barnsley in the last home game and they conceded after 27 seconds at Derby County on New Year’s Day. It’s a habit that needs to stop.

3) For all the attacking intent on both sides there were very few saves made by either ‘keeper and none would have been classed as ‘difficult.’ Dribbling looked tricky on the bobbly surface, shooting can be a lottery in such circumstances and players were losing their feet. These facts were possibly all pitch related. This poor playing surface is not a good look for the club and it’s potentially damaging to the club’s promotion hopes. It was covered soon after the final whistle, but there’s another game on it on Wednesday. January and February are notoriously cold and wet months in this country so I'm not expecting any rapid improvement.

4) The better players still stood out though. Ronnie Edwards and Hector Kyprianou (apart from his finishing) looked Championship class and of course Patrick Bamford took the pitch out of the equation to score his brilliant goal.

5) BBC Radio asked Darren Ferguson if Bamford’s long-range volley was the best goal he’d ever seen at London Road. I’ve seen better, most memorably George Best flicking the ball up to himself off the ground and volleying into the top corner of the net for Fulham against Posh in a 1977 League Cup tie.

6) Referee Sam Allison didn’t exactly enhance his Premier League credentials yesterday. He wasn’t the reason Posh lost, but the opening goal looked decidedly suspect because he turned his back on a set-piece and didn’t see Leeds take it fractionally before he blew his whistle. Some Posh players were perplexed and you could argue they did play to the whistle because they stopped when they heard it. And Allison’s decision not to award a penalty or a free kick for simulation when Josh Knight and Wilfried Gnonto collided a few minutes just looked like a cop-out. If it was seen as a foul and a penalty, and it surely should have been, it would probably have been a second yellow card for the Posh defender. If Gnonto’s fall had been adjudged a dive it would also have been his second yellow. It was an unsatisfactory incident.

7) Posh should be happy they picked up no injuries or suspensions yesterday. They need to take no injury risks on a heavy pitch when Crawley visit London Road for an EFL Trophy tie on Wednesday. I would make 11 changes and there’s a chance Posh would still win, but promotion is more important than a possible trip to Wembley.