Darren Ferguson gives angry interview days ahead of Peterborough clash with Bristol Rovers

Darren Ferguson gives angry interview days ahead of Peterborough clash with Bristol Rovers

 

Darren Ferguson gives angry interview days ahead of Peterborough clash with Bristol Rovers

Bristol Rovers’ next opponents were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by League Two Mansfield Town on Tuesday evening

Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson gave some angry words ahead of facing Bristol Rovers on Saturday after his side were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by League Two side Mansfield Town on Tuesday evening, admitting: “I don’t know why I should work with them when they do that.”

 

An earlier penalty from Will Swan gave the hosts the lead before a brace from former Rovers striker Jonson Clarke-Harris, whom the Gas were seconds away from re-signing on deadline day, put the visitors in control.

 

However, the League One side lost their grip of the contest, conceding an equaliser in added time from the penalty spot before the Stags won the subsequent penalty shootout to reach the round of 16 with the Posh squandering an excellent opportunity to advance in the competition.

The Cambridgeshire outfit have built a relatively young team after falling victim to one of the biggest comebacks in EFL history at the end of last season, blowing a 4-0 aggregate lead to Sheffield Wednesday in the play-offs.

Now Ferguson and co. turn their attention back to league action as they host Joey Barton’s men on Saturday afternoon with the two clubs separated by two points in the League One table. Moreover, Peterborough had been in good form going into the Mansfield game, winning two and drawing two of their previous four matches across all competitions.

However, the Scotsman had incredibly strong words for his players ahead of Saturday’s match, questioning their character and suggesting that maybe he should have cleared the squad completely after missing out on a spot in the play-off final with such a whimper.

“For the first 65 minutes, they couldn’t get near us,” Ferguson told Peterborough’s media. “The football was excellent. I was delighted with the performance. Then all of a sudden we find a way of losing a game of football when we should never be losing.

“These players that I’ve got, I mean they need to show some more character that’s the downfall. A lot of them are still here, maybe I should have gotten rid of the whole lot of them. A lot of them are still here from Hillsborough, couldn’t handle it. We’re playing against Mansfield.

 

“They started tackling and we couldn’t handle it. We kicking balls out, we’re losing tackles, in the middle of the pitch we lost every single tackle. We just kept giving the ball away to them. You’ve got to play a game of football and expect to tackle and then when we got opportunities the quality again was not there.

 

“65 minutes, joy to watch, after that the lads went under. As a manager, it really disgusts me to say that but lets be honest that’s the truth. I’m not defending that. I’ll defend my players all day long but I’m not defending that when they just go under when they go under pressure. It’s just nowhere near good enough for this club.

 

“You don’t kill the game off and then all of a sudden they get a little bit ahead of steam and we start panicking and stiop passing the ball. We’re playing too many long balls, people are lashing it out of play when before we’re just passing it. All of a sudden we’re losing tackles, we’re erratic. It’s just simply not good enough.”

 

The Posh boss added: “I’ve got a lot of thinking to do. As a manager, you’ve got to have a team that can back up what you’re about. I’m not having that tonight. We’ve thrown away an opportunity by not showing enough bottle.

 

“The games come thick and fast and it’s not just about seeing a reaction on Saturday, it’s about these players finding a way of showing more character and shwoing more bottle. Tonight we’ve gone under and I hate to say that about my own players, especially in public, but I’m not letting them off this one.

 

“Quite honestly, I don’t know why I should work with them when they do that. What’s the point? They don’t deserve it.”