Peterborough United manager moans at players on both sides and the referee after Portsmouth defeat

Evans accepted Pompey deserved their 2-1 victory at the ABAX Stadium, a win that took them to the top of the table. Posh are second with a four-point lead over the rest of the division.

Matt Godden’s eighth goal of the season arrived too late to save Posh. The visitors had eased into a 2-0 lead with goals from Oliver Hawkins and Jamal Lowe.

Evans was frustrated enough to have digs at match referee Roger East as well as Pompey players for their behaviour during after a game that attracted the first 10,000 plus League gate to the ABAX for 18 months.

“There was nothing in a very competitive game for an hour,” Evans stated. “But then we left a man unmarked in the penalty area for the first goal and then lost the ball with a poor pass for the second goal.

“We still had time to get back in the game. The substitutions we used all helped. Ivan Toney should have scored from Marcus Maddison’s free kick and Siriki Dembele should have scored with the last kick of the game.

“But we lost because they took advantage of our errors. They didn’t make any in their own penalty area. We didn’t show any finesse or quality on the ball until it was too late.

“We were poor in the first-half. They had more composure on the ball, but we started the second-half better, so it was disappointing to fall behind.

“It’s only one game though. We are still in good shape and now it’s all about reacting well and I’m sure this group of players will.

“They worked hard today. They gave everything, but they had little go their way. Roger East refereed the game poorly. He lost control at times in the second-half, especially when he let Nathan Thompson roll on and off the pitch with an injury. Thompson is know for that sort of antics. And then the referee let two physios run on the pitch without having permission. It was all very frustrating.

“We have to play a bit smarter in future. Motivation should come from listening to their players sing they were top of the league. We went top a couple of weeks ago and didn’t get carried away.

“We’ve lost to a big football with a big budget and fantastic support. It was great to see the Peterborough public turn out in force as well. I’m sure they will be back as we are a good side.”

Posh hare next in League One action at Gillingham next Saturday (September 22).