Darren Ferguson heaps praise on Peterborough players and staff after win

Posted Sunday, January 21, 2024 by PA

Darren Ferguson praised his players and staff after Peterborough battled back to beat struggling Shrewsbury.

Sky Bet League One’s lowest scorers led the division’s highest scorers at the break thanks to Jordan Shipley’s strike in the 41st minute of a game which went ahead after a second pitch inspection.

But it was a different story in the second half, with Joel Randall tapping in at the end of a fine 51st-minute move to drag Posh level before Josh Knight headed in a Harrison Burrows corner to complete the turnaround in the 68th minute.

Randall struck a post in stoppage time, but Posh had done enough to retain second spot, while a sixth defeat in their last seven league outings sent Shrewsbury sliding towards the drop zone.

Ferguson said: “I’m really proud of the players – this is as important a win as we’ve had all season.

“I’m sure people looked at our form, their form and had it down as a home banker, but it’s never that easy.

“The worst thing was conceding a really soft goal which gave Shrewsbury something to hang onto.

“It was the sort of game where we just had to find a way and we did it.

“Joel was the best player on the pitch in the second half and got us level.

“We’ve got an excellent coach in Dale Tonge who works really hard on set pieces and it was great to see a corner come off.

“The ground staff did a brilliant job to get the game on with the weather we’ve had.

“I’ve had it before where so much effort has gone in and then we’ve lost the game.

“That was in the back of my mind, but we came through it with a win.”

Shrews boss Matt Taylor said: “I thought we were excellent in the first half and probably edged it. Away at Peterborough, that’s never easy to do.

“We had some good moments and Jordan took his chance really well, but we spoke at half-time about how the first-half performance meant nothing.

“I can understand and accept the first goal Peterborough scored as it was a moment of quality which you’re always going to get playing against a team who are likely to get promoted.

“But to be stood here having lost a game of football due to conceding from a set play, is unacceptable.

“We spend a lot of time working on them. If you are given a role you have to do it, but we didn’t do that today.

“I should be talking about a good point gained, but instead it’s about not getting the result we want and that’s disappointing.

“I felt the performance was good, but the result isn’t.”