Darren Ferguson criticises Peterborough defending in Stevenage draw - 7M sport

Darren Ferguson criticises Peterborough defending in Stevenage draw



Posted Sunday, November 10, 2019 by PA

Darren Ferguson criticises Peterborough defending in Stevenage draw

Darren Ferguson bemoaned his side’s inability to keep their sheets clean as they salvaged an FA Cup first round replay with a 1-1 draw at Stevenage.

The League One outfit were on the brink of missing out on the second round for the first time since 2005, but Marcus Maddison’s fine strike on 78 minutes cancelled out Elliott List’s opener.

But Ferguson, far from praising his side’s resilience, instead levelled stiff criticism at Posh’s sloppy defensive display.

“I’m not feeling relieved. We just can’t find a way of keeping clean sheets,” he said.

“We just keep giving away ridiculously bad goals and that’s what happened again. The goal’s just so easy to defend I feel, and we just don’t defend it.

“We said at half-time ‘make sure your concentration’s good, don’t give anything away and eventually a bit of quality will win us the game’.

“We just can’t keep clean sheets again; our keeper has not had one shot to save all game.

“In terms of the ratio of chances we give away to goals we’re probably the worst in the league, I think. We just keep giving away ridiculously soft goals.”

After a quiet first half in which both sides struggled to make inroads, substitute List gave the Lamex Stadium something to cheer about when he capitalised on a loose Peterborough pass to burst through their ranks and make it 1-0.

That was after the visitors were perhaps lucky to keep their full complement on the pitch, when Daniel Butler was shown yellow after bringing down Emmanuel Sonupe when the winger appeared to be through on goal.

Peterborough switched up the pace as an FA Cup exit stared them in the face, their reward coming with the ever-lively Maddison’s excellent equaliser.

And though Boro boss Mark Sampson was keen to praise how his side acquitted themselves against higher-tier opposition, he nevertheless made sure to point out what he felt to be a refereeing discrepancy.

“There’s obviously that big turning point in the second half. I think the referee’s missed one there and they should have been down to 10. It’s a clear goal-scoring opportunity – the same as our goal,” he said.

“It was a nearly day. We’re obviously disappointed to concede a late goal.

“I thought the character and resilience of the team was outstanding. To lose two key players in the first 10 minutes, we had a reshuffle tactically; I think we had six players over the course of the 90 minutes who played in different positions.

“We’ve come through that and got a replay against a very good Peterborough side. We did enough to win. Every time we got the ball, we were a danger; they didn’t test us much defensively.”

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