Darren Ferguson delighted with Peterborough’s six-goal display

Darren Ferguson was delighted with his “ruthless, clinical” Peterborough side after their 6-0 hammering of Rochdale.

League One top goalscorer Ivan Toney netted a hat-trick, while fellow forwards Marcus Maddison (two goals) and Mo Eisa completed the rout.

Toney’s opener saw him tackle Dale goalkeeper Robert Sanchez two yards from the goalline, with the ball trickling in, and it set the tone for a fourth straight league win and clean sheet for Posh.

Ferguson said: “It was very satisfying, as pleased as I have been. Not just because of the result but in terms of the discipline and the performance.

“We knew they would have possession as they are a very good technical team. The first 15 minutes showed that and they had a lot of possession. But for us to get the first goal was really important as once we got that we didn’t look back.

“I thought it was a really mature performance. We were ruthless, clinical. I’m delighted.

“Ivan is only 23 and he has a lot going for him. What I like about him is his attitude, his work-ethic. He sacrifices a lot in terms of the way he presses and closes down. And he is on fire at the moment.

“We’re in a good place and the players are enjoying their football. We’re clinical and we’re keeping clean sheets. As a manager I couldn’t really be happier.”

Sanchez was embarrassed by Toney after 18 minutes, before Eisa flicked in a header from Joe Ward’s floated left-wing cross 16 minutes later.

Maddison’s superb through ball before half-time allowed Toney to round Sanchez and slot home, then after the break Maddison took advantage of the goalkeeper’s poor clearance to spectacularly lob him from 35 yards.

Jim McNulty’s weak back header set up Toney’s low finish for his hat-trick after 58 minutes, before Maddison scored a penalty soon after after being tripped by Eoghan O’Connell.

Rochdale manager Brian Barry-Murphy said: “Our lads made mistakes in certain areas of the pitch, but they’ve been so brave and courageous in the way we play the game since the start of the season.

“So the minute things go against you and you concede goals from those mistakes the easy and the simple solution is to try and play safe and play long. But I will back these players to the hilt and I’m extremely proud of them, even though the scoreline was such a heavy defeat for us.

“We had some good control in the first 19 minutes before they scored. We got hit by two sucker punches from two errors on our own part and they were difficult moments to manage, and we weren’t able to do that and the scoreline ran up very quickly.

“Peterborough are such a dangerous team on the counter-attack. If they get ahead in games they can be very difficult to manage.”