Would Peterborough United be better off out of the FA Cup? Who stepped up impressively and who didn’t? Toss up between raging Robinson and the fake crowd noise for most irritating sound, a lesson in law and ban the divers

Peterborough United’s win at Oxford United yesterday (November 7) now means they will play a second round tie on November 28 in between two Tuesday League One matches against Plymouth Argyle and AFC Wimbledon when a rest might have come in handy.

I’m not trying to poor cold water on a meritous win by a team showing six changes from their previous outing, but rest and recovery are more crucial than ever in a season six weeks shorter than normal.

Of course Nathan Thompson’s injury could have happened in any match, but it would be a blow to lose such an influential player for any length of time from a injury caused in the least important game Posh have played in the last six weeks or so.

Posh picked up £22k for winning yesterday which is handy in these tough financial times, but even that is £14k less than first round winners collected last season. It’s now £34k for winning a second round tie, but that figure pales into insignificance compared the riches available for reaching the Championship which just has to the sole target this season.

Obviously momentum and fringe players enjoying that winning feeling are not be sniffed at. We’ll just have to trust manager Darren Ferguson to manage his squad skilfully.

Maybe he is confident the back-up boys are a capable of stepping up successfully. They certainly gave him plenty of encouragement yesterday.

Other talking points from yesterday’s win...

1) Louis Reed, Ryan Broom, Ethan Hamilton, Niall Mason and Frazer Blake-Tracy were all replacement players who enjoyed good moments yesterday, but the stand out performance from a newcomer was delivered by Ronnie Edwards, a defender who is not 18 until next March.

His skill and composure on the ball are well known, but he showed he can also do the more physically demanding stuff. His positioning was so good clearances were made considerably easier. He wasn’t up against mugs in Matty Taylor and Sam Winnall at the Kassam Stadium and he emerged from the match with reputation very much enhanced.

2) I worry about Mo Eisa. He just doesn’t suit a lone striker role. He started brightly yesterday, but as Ferguson pointed out after the game, Oxford soon realised they could press high up the pitch as there was no-one physically capable of holding the ball up for Posh up top in the absence of Jonson Clarke-Harris. Unless there is a dramatic tactical shift in terms of formation I can see Eisa stuck on the bench for most of the season again. He had one chance to show his undoubted finishing skills yesterday after some fine play from Siriki Dembele, but he showed his rustiness by shooting well off target.

3) Jack Taylor rarely shoots off target. He can hit a decent ball with left or right foot. He’s competitive as well as skilful. He has now scored three goals in three games, the sort of form that gets you noticed by bigger and better clubs.

It looks like Posh will be fending off bids from the Championship and above for Dembele and Taylor come January. With such a determined bid to reach the Championship well under way it’s hard to believe either will be sold.

4) Oxford trialled fake crowd noise in their midweek 3-1 League One win over Rochdale and apparently their players enjoyed it so it was on show again yesterday.

But it was pitiful. The noise was the same no matter which team had scored and whenever the referee or the players made dreadful blunders. It didn’t even drown out the racket made by raging Oxford manager Karl Robinson as he berated the poor old fourth official after Siriki Dembele’s opening goal had been allowed to stand.

5) My understanding of the first Posh goal yesterday (and the advice might have changed overnight for all I know) is the decision was correct as Dembele would not have been considered active until Oxford defender Josh Ruffels miscontrolled Louis Reed’s inaccurate pass and he would then have been deemed onside as the last touch was by Ruffels in that particular phase of play. I can understand Robinson’s unhappiness though. If Ruffels had left the ball, missed it altogether or had merely deflected it Dembele would have been judged offside. The fact he deliberately played at the ball meant Dembele was onside. Simple!

6) Oxford look they have found a real gem in QPR loanee winger Olamide Shadipo, but he needs to stop falling over so eaily. He was eventually cautioned for simulation in the second-half. By my reckoning that was his third such offence. Embarrassing to be honest.