Fergie in dreamland thanks to his ruthless players who delivered the biggest Posh win for over a decade

Posh are now just a point behind leaders Hull City with a game in hand after The Tigers were held to a 1-1 home draw by Steve Evans’ Gillingham today (March 27).

Jonson Clarke-Harris claimed his second hat-trick of the season, while Sammie Szmodics scored twice before substitutes Mo Eisa and Idris Kanu both netted.

Posh achieved their biggest win since beating Brentford 7-0 in November, 2007 without star forward Siriki Dembele who was nursing a bad back.

“If ever you dream about a how a game will go this would have been it,” Ferguson enthused. “We scored seven goals, we kept a clean sheet, we closed the gap at the top and we caught up our main promotion rivals on goal difference.

“We had big goals for Mo Eisa and Idris Kanu, and Jonson Clarke-Harris and Sammie Szmodics scored five goals between them. My substitutes were all outstanding with two goals and an assist between the five of them.

“The players deserve all the compliments they will be getting after this performance. It was a magnificent display. They executed our gameplan superbly.

“We set out to exploit the space we would get as I knew Accrington would play three at the back and it saw us 2-0 up in 10 minutes. We started strongly and we just kept going. We were utterly ruthless. We had a little dip after going 3-0 up, but at half-time I asked them to run further than they had all season and they delivered. I am absolutely delighted.

“Scoring seven made it feel like a four-point game because of the goal difference we made up on Sunderland (third, two points behind Posh with a game in hand) and that could be crucial come the end of the season.

“This wasn’t about sending a message to anyone else though. It was about giving ourselves the self-confidence and belief for the run-in. There were many psychological plusses for us today including a clean sheet for a goalkeeper who needed one. Louis Reed was also very impressive in midfield after coming back into the side. He is so composed on the ball.

“I had a really good feeling before the game. Accrington can be a dangerous team, but we didn’t let them in the match.

“We had a good chat with the players on Thursday in which we set out our plan for the final 10 games and we have started that run perfectly.

“I couldn’t ask for any more than the players gave me. We know what we have to do to win promotion and that’s keep winning at home, but improve away.”

Posh have now won 14 of 18 League One matches at the Weston Homes Stadium.

Posh next face the crucial Easter weekend with matches at Fleetwood on Good Friday and then a crunch home game with Sunderland on Easter Monday.