Ferguson in Posh firing line

With Peterborough sitting bottom of the Championship table pointless from their first five games, it would be an understatement to suggest that manager Darren Ferguson is under severe pressure even at this stage of the season.

Ferguson led the Posh back into the Championship two seasons ago via the playoffs and steered them to an encouraging mid table position during the last campaign.

But following Saturday’s 5-2 thrashing at the hands of Burnley, the former Preston boss has become the likely first candidate to receive the sack in the Championship this season.

“It’s simply not good enough,” Ferguson told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

“Some of the players are not good enough, I’m carrying players and that’s the bottom line.”

The Posh are without a league win in 11 matches stretching back to the end of March, but Ferguson is determined to turn the club’s misfortunes around and start climbing the table.

He continued: “It's not all doom and gloom - we're not happy but there's a positive feel that we can get out of it.

“As a manager, I'm more determined than ever to make sure we climb the league.”

In response to Saturday’s thumping, Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony used his own Twitter account to publically empathise with the supporters, who had begun to voice their concerns following the defeat at Turf Moor. 

Various injury problems have had a profound effect on Peterborough’s poor start, but Ferguson has pointed to a lack of consistency as the main cause to his side’s shortcomings.

He added: “Some individuals have shown they're more than capable at this level - and some are being very inconsistent, in particular in our defending.”

The 40-year-old, son of Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson, is currently in his second spell in charge at London Road.

He left by mutual consent in 2009 following an indifferent run of results, the club were relegated back into League One the same season.

Ironically, Ferguson was faced with a similar scenario at Preston North End, when he took over soon after leaving London Road.

Preston were engulfed in a relegation battle alongside Peterborough, and a 1-0 success over Ferguson’s former club went a long way to securing the club’s Championship status.

Just short of a year in charge, the Scot was relieved of his duties and re-joined the Posh leading them to playoff success.

Ferguson is keen to avoid relegation this time around and is hopeful that his players can begin to show some fighting spirit.

He continued: “I think a lot of the outside stuff is very, very negative but that's understandable and it's up to us to change the mindset of everyone.”

Peterborough face Bristol City on Tuesday evening before entertaining Wolves the following Saturday, and the London Road boss says his players must be ready for the challenge ahead.

He added: “We have a responsibility to our own fans to change that and we've got to start by getting out there, getting among them and by playing far better football than we did on Saturday.

“I've never shirked away from a challenge and I'm not going to start now.

“It's a totally different sort of challenge - I quite enjoy it in a way because I feel confident in my players' ability and my own ability.”