Peterborough United’s 0-0 draw with Lincoln City on Saturday left manager Darren Ferguson furious, but understandably so given the team around him.
It was a bad day for Ferguson’s side, with Portsmouth, Bolton Wanderers and Derby County all picking up three points, putting their promotion hopes slightly in jeopardy.
Despite being just three points behind at the top of the table, this was a largely flat performance from Posh and one the club will want to forget. The 0-0 draw was Peterborough’s second time without a goal this season, and they were pretty wasteful in front of goal.
Despite the Lions having a share of the possession, Ferguson’s side really struggled to create much in the match. While you can praise Lincoln’s defense, you would normally expect Posh’s offense to be better.
Scoring points on the road is by no means a shocking result, but the result is made worse by the fact that the other three teams in the top four have all won.
As for Lincoln, they have been without a win for nine league games, and although they have improved in recent weeks by drawing their last three games, their lack of goals is a bit worrying.
In a post-match interview with the Peterborough Telegraph, Ferguson was extremely disappointed with the performance and made no secret of his disappointment.
“It’s very frustrating. It was a very disappointing performance. The first half was the worst we’ve played in a long time.
“I don’t know why, but the game played out the way we wanted it to. They were just sitting back to counterattack. But we didn’t have the zip, we didn’t have the tempo. It was too slow and we gave a lot of touches to people trying to do things in the middle of the pitch that they shouldn’t have done. Really, really disappointing.
“Our away form has really improved over the last five games, we’ve got 13 points out of 15 and we’re doing very well, but we can’t let our guard down. I told the players about this, but they didn’t seem to listen.”
“We had a day off today. It was as poor as we’ve had in a long time.”
“I told the players it wasn’t good enough. I told the players I wasn’t happy with it at half-time because it was a really soft performance.”
Writer’s opinion
Ferguson was clearly running quite hot at full-time, so once the dust settles, we might see the result not be as bad as originally thought. That being said, it’s still a disappointing result considering the three teams around them all earned maximum points.
Peterborough host Wigan Athletic at the Weston Holmes Stadium next Saturday in what could be seen as a must-win game to get back on track in the league.
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