Evans frustrated and disappointed that Peterborough United '˜only' drew at Sunderland

Posh came from behind twice to draw 2-2 at likely promotion rivals Sunderland thanks to goals from substitute Joe Ward - his first for the club - and Ivan Toney who grabbed his goal five minutes from time.

But Evans was frustrated his side couldn’t take full advantage of a dominant second-half display. Sunderland, who led at half-time, scored their second goal after being reduced to 10 men by a red card to full-back Bryan Oviedo.

Evans had suprisingly changed the team’s formation from the 4-4-2 that had been employed in five sucessive away wins for the opening 45 minutes.

“We should have won that game,” Evans stated. “We were in complete control of the second-half and when we equalised against 10 men I am sure even every Sunderland fan thought we would go on to win the game.

“But we’ve committed defensive suicide near the touchline to concede a second goal and it’s taken a sublime run, touch and finish from Ivan to get us the point.

“I’m disappointed though. They bossed the first-half and we were much better in the second-half. I reckon (Sunderland manager) Jack Ross will be the happier manager in the morning though as we played them off the park in the second half.

“We changed the way we have been playing away from home because we felt Siriki Dembele would hurt them from a position just behind the front two, but he didn’t perform and as a result I sacrificed him and a very unlucky Callum Cooke at half-time.

“We had actually started the game pretty well for 15 minutes, but then we committed a terrible defensive error by giving a talented young striker too much room in the penalty area.

“Good players will always punish you when you do that. We will have to work hard on our defending before we face another tough game with Barnsley on Saturday.

“We were lucky not to concede again just before the break as they missed a great opportunity, but we were different class in the second-half apart from one piece of bad defending. Their goalkeeper showed how valuable he is by making some exceptional saves

“Sunderland is a wonderful football club with fans who are worth two goals a game with the support they give and the pressure they put on the referee. They will obviously be strong promotion contenders this season.

“It was two good teams going toe-to-toe, but they were lucky to draw tonight,”

Evans revealed top scorer Matt Godden was left on the substitutes’ bench as he wasn’t ‘100 per cent fit’.

Posh remain second in League One, but are now three points behind unbeaten Portsmouth who won 1-0 at Coventry.

Posh have a three-point lead over third-placed Doncaster after Grant McCann’s men lost 1-0 at Accrington Stanley.

Posh host Barnsley at the ABAX Stadium on Saturday, a match that is now all-ticket for home fans