Match-winner Josh Vela draws praise as Fleetwood edge out Peterborough

Posted Wednesday, September 14, 2022 by PA

Fleetwood assistant manager Steven Whittaker saluted captain Josh Vela after he sank Peterborough.

Summer signing Vela opened his Town account with the only goal to snap a run of five consecutive draws.

His 23rd-minute volley – after Carlos Mendes Gomes was twice denied by keeper Lucas Bergstrom – was enough to secure a first away triumph of rookie boss Scott Brown’s reign.

But this was no one-man show, with Whittaker heaping praise on the character of the entire Cod Army as they condemned Posh to a fifth successive defeat in all competitions.

Whittaker said: “We know Josh is capable of chipping in with goals like that.

“We don’t always ask him to play the same role and that determines how far up the pitch he can get, but it was nice to see him arriving in the box and finishing that one off nicely.

“We were outstanding to a man tonight all over the pitch, putting bodies on the line and blocking shots whenever needed.

“The boys showed great character. There were a lot of crosses coming in but we stuck together and defended our box with great resilience.

“It’s great to get the win after the run of draws. There were games we should have won and others where we came from behind that you see as a good point.

“But the message has been about trying to turn draws into wins and we believe we have built a squad that are capable of beating anyone on their day.”

Jack Marriott fluffed the hosts’ two best chances in the first half on a disappointing night for Grant McCann’s side.

The Posh boss admitted: “I’m hugely frustrated. We don’t want to lose any games at home.

“We had enough opportunities to win it comfortably given the amount of balls we put into the box and the final-third entries we made.

“I feel as though we have more than enough match-winners in our team to get us back into a game after falling behind, but it just didn’t happen for us tonight.

“Too much of our play fizzled out around their box and we need to be better in that regard. Fleetwood threw themselves in front of crosses and shots all night and we needed to be a bit cuter and cleverer at times.

“Jack is normally deadly in goalscoring situations, but unfortunately tonight he couldn’t take the chances. It certainly wasn’t just Jack, though.

“We have to be honest, the goal we conceded was a poor one. We allowed two shots that Lucas did brilliantly to save and then we still allowed the third one which they put away.”