Darren Ferguson says Peterborough ‘ticking over nicely’ after beating Plymouth

Posted Wednesday, November 25, 2020 by PA

Darren Ferguson was delighted with the reaction of his Peterborough players as they got back on track with a 1-0 win over Plymouth.

Jonson Clarke-Harris grabbed the only goal – his seventh of the campaign – to see off a Plymouth side still waiting for a first away success of the season.

The former Bristol Rovers frontman put away a Siriki Dembele pass four minutes before the break before being forced off with an ankle injury in the second half.

Dan Butler hit a post and Dembele missed a glorious chance to double the lead, but one goal proved to be enough for Ferguson’s promotion-chasers.

The Posh boss said: “Football is so fickle. We’ve had two defeats and justifiably taken criticism for how we played in those games.

“It was important not to let that run get to three and our performance was very good as we played our system as well as we have ever done.

“We produced our best first half of the season and just needed the second goal to relax us a bit and kill it off.

“We had so many opportunities to get it and on another night we could have scored four or five quite comfortably, but it didn’t happen.

“That gave Plymouth hope when the game should have been over but the clean sheet was very important and overall I’m delighted.

“We’re picking up two points per game, which is always our target, and we’re ticking over nicely.

“Nine wins out of 14 games is a very good start.”

Despite his side not being able to create a clear goalscoring chance, Plymouth boss Ryan Lowe was disappointed to depart empty-handed.

Lowe, whose side were thumped 5-1 at Fleetwood on Saturday, said: “We were unfortunate not to take a point away to one of the best teams we’ll face this season, but the football we played and the fight we showed were 100 times better than at Fleetwood on Saturday.

“It is always natural to have that bit of fear after being beaten heavily in the previous game, but I thought we were very good, particularly in the second half and I saw a team fighting through thick and thin while playing the right brand of football.

“I always knew I was going to get a reaction as Saturday was a one-off. I’ve got a good group and what happened hurt all of us.

“We did a lot of video work after that and one bit of training on the grass which gave them the positive energy to almost get a great result.

“I’m proud of all of the boys but obviously disappointed we couldn’t get a goal because you’re doing well if you can pick up a point at this type of place on the road.”