Darren Ferguson pours praise on Posh players following ‘fantastic win’

Posted Wednesday, January 20, 2021 by PA

Darren Ferguson hailed his comeback kings after Peterborough brushed aside promotion rivals Charlton 2-1.

Match-winner Sammie Szmodics bagged a brace for the second successive game as Ferguson’s men stretched their unbeaten run to five games.

They had been staring at a costly defeat after falling behind to a 14th-minute penalty from Conor Washington.

The former Posh ace tucked away his seventh goal of the season after skipper Jason Pearce was sent tumbling by Ethan Hamilton.

But Posh battled back in the second period, with a change of formation from Ferguson working a treat.

Szmodics levelled in the 67th minute after racing onto a Jonson Clarke-Harris header before the same player released him again 12 minutes later to settle the contest.

Ferguson said: “I’m delighted with the players and it’s a fantastic win for us.

“We had to really dig deep and the mental strength they showed was incredible.

“We gave away a sloppy penalty to find ourselves behind, but we kept at it and it could arguably be our best win of the season given the manner of it.

“Sammie might not have scored those goals a couple of weeks ago but tonight he was never going to miss and Jonson did so well to make them.

“I couldn’t be happier with the character we showed against an experienced team who just wanted to make it a scrap, but we showed them we were well equipped for that.

“We switched formation in the second half to give ourselves more space and width in a scrappy game and it worked well for us. We always feel we need a Plan B and tonight was a night where it came into use.”

Charlton boss Lee Bowyer saw his side lose ground in the play-off chase and admitted: “It was a horrible game to watch in horrendous conditions with a pitch that wasn’t playable.

“It became a bit of a battle that I thought we had under full control, but we made basic mistakes which are easily avoided and you can’t legislate for that as a manager.

“We were 1-0 up and dealing with everything they threw at us, but we allowed them a one-on-one to get level from a simple punt down the pitch and a mix-up from our centre-backs. That’s just not good enough.

“The players worked their socks off, competed well and gave 100 per cent which is important to me as a manager, but it wasn’t our day to play well on that pitch.

“We now have to make sure we walk the walk as well as talk the talk by making the good things we do in training happen on a matchday.”