Darren Ferguson has suggested that Posh losing 3-0 at home to the Imps was an embarrassing result, but a game of fine margins.
Ferguson, who has been on/off manager at London Road for 18 years, picked up a booking in the game, and perhaps wished some of his players had shown the same desire.
Speaking to Posh+, he called it a ‘difficult day’, where the first goal meant everything.
“A difficult day. Well beaten in the end. I felt we started the game poorly. They started the game well, we started the game opposite. And then they got a little bit of control and then obviously scored. I knew the first goal today would be very important due to how both teams play.
“And then I felt the last 15, 20 minutes of the first half we got control and a couple of half chances: JJ’s hit the post, Archie’s had a header. So we got an element of control of the game.
“Then the first 15 minutes of the second half started well. So from the second goal to the last goal, it’s really poor.”
The second goal was certainly the killer. At 1-0, there is always a route back, but after Tendayi Darikwa streaked in at the back post, the game was dead and buried and that was clear from Posh’s play.
“We were disjointed,” added Ferguson. “We looked like we lacked belief at that point. Lost all confidence, which was really disappointing. That was a disappointing part of today. I know, look, unfortunately, you are going to lose games. There’s a way in how you lose it and that didn’t look good today in the way we lost that because we just lost all confidence and belief when it went to 2-0.”
He did find some praise for the Imps, noting we’re a tough team to break down, which the likes of Luton and Chelsea have also found out recently.
“They’re a hard team to break down. Especially when they go ahead. We knew that coming into the game. I just tell the players at half-time they need to calm down and trust what we’re doing and the way we want to play going into the game.
“When you play that long at the back, you want them to break lines, and perhaps we haven’t got the confidence of winning when it goes 1-0. There’s a bit of moaning and groaning in the crowd, which I get. I get the frustration of them wanting us to go forward earlier. But they were a hard team to break down, and you have to give them credit for that.
“I knew they were well organised, and we didn’t move the ball quick enough. And then the moments we did, like the JJ chance off the post, they had big chances to get back in the game, but in the end, we were well beaten.”
Still, Ferguson believed the small moments changed the game – them hitting the post, and JJ Morgan’s missed chance at 2-0.
“There were small moments in the game for both teams. There wasn’t much in it at all. The moments went for them and didn’t go out for us, or they had the quality and we didn’t, you know, it hit the post, JJ’s chances straight after they scored their second goal. But ultimately it wasn’t good enough”
“To get beat 3-0 at home by Lincoln is an embarrassing result for us.”
