Graham Westley praises Peterborough United players after win at Chesterfield
Debutant Tom Nichols scored the only goal of the game 10 minutes into the second-half, but his dream start in Posh colours was overshadowed by a tremendous rearguard action after defenders Michael Smith and Ricardo Santos were sent off.
Including added time at the end of the game, Posh played for almost 40 minutes with 10 men and almost 20 minutes with nine men, but they refused to be beaten.
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Hide AdThe win, a first in four League One matches, moved Posh up two places to eighth. They remain three points off the play-off places.
Westley was thrilled to see the Posh promotion push get back on track despite little going right for his side towards the end.
“That was a real gutsy, back-to-the-walls effort for the final 30 minutes or so,” Westley enthused. “I was so pleased to see so many talented young players have the desire and the will to get three points in such trying circumstances. Things were conspiring against us for most of the game after we scored.
“We were fantastic at times. We dug deep and we showed a hunger, a real appetite to get make sure we took the three points home. We were resilient, but we also showed terific organisation.
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Hide Ad“That was far from an easy three points today, but sometimes your pure ability gets you home and sometimes winning is down to your character. It’s very encouraging that we have both.
“We started the day in 10th place and that’s nowhere near where we want to be. We’re still talking promotion rather than the play-offs, but we have an awful lot to do. We have an awful lot of winning to do that’s for sure.
“Obviously it was good for Tom to start his career here with a goal. I had a go at him at half-time as he hadn’t done much in the game, but he was in the right place at the right time.”
Posh remain 12 points off the automatic promotion places with just 17 matches remaining. They host Bradford City at the ABAX Stadium in their next League One fixture on Saturday (February 13).