Darren Ferguson criticises Peterborough forwards despite win at Leyton Orient

Posted Tuesday, April 02, 2024 by PA

Darren Ferguson pulled no punches in voicing his disappointment with his forwards despite his Peterborough side beating Leyton Orient 2-1.

Former Orient man Hector Kyprianou and leading scorer Ephron Mason-Clark gave Posh a comfortable lead at half-time before the hosts reduced the deficit through Ethan Galbraith.

However, the visitors squandered a number of chances, keeping the home side interested before emerging with a valuable three points.

“The result was pleasing enough but the performance at the top end of the pitch was nowhere near good enough,” Ferguson said.

“I keep saying that it is very frustrating and we need far better quality in that area of the pitch.

“How we were are left hanging on in a game like this is incredible. We are though and we know the reasons why.

“The game should have been done and dusted comfortably and we should be relaxing come the end of the game instead of hanging on.

“Missed chances, missed passes, final decision not good enough.

“Once we got control of the game, we looked good and when we were two-up, it became a bit more of a counter-attacking game even before half-time and I’m thinking ‘Just go and get the third goal and the game is over’.”

“But we just went on and made the wrong decisions. There is so much more to come but when are we going to get it?

“We had opportunities to kill the game off even when they got a goal back.

“We have to finish teams off far better than we are doing.”

Orient manager Richie Wellens lamented the nature of the goals his side conceded.

“They were really poor goals conceded by us today,” he said.

“We played against a decent outfit today but if you’re going to lose then you’d rather it was moments of quality or magic than the way we conceded which was really poor.

“We’ve squeezed every single ounce out of these players and I’m tired. I’ve done a good job but you can only squeeze so much and the injuries we’ve had is frightening.

“I’m frustrated because I thought we had a chance of a top six finish as I don’t think the league is great this year and I’m absolutely gutted we’ve fallen short.

“We don’t have a centre forward and need a man in the box which is the biggest deficiency in our team.

“We’ve got close to the play-offs and I knew today was coming but we’ve only scored two goals in five games and that’s why we’ve fallen short.

“It frustrates the life out of me.”