'What was said in the dressing room will stay there' - Peterborough read riot act after Portsmouth loss
The manager demanded the Posh 'start showing some character' following their fifth loss in six matches.
Ferguson felt Peterborough deserved to return to London Road empty-handed after being put to the sword by the Blues.
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Hide AdKenny Jackett's men were the better team throughout as they earned a 2-0 victory at Fratton Park.
Jack Whatmough opened the scoring in the 61st minute before Tom Naylor crashed home a stunning long-range effort with 14 minutes remaining.
Pompey keeper Craig MacGillivray hardly had a save to make all afternoon, while Ronan Curtis and Ryan Williams missed big chances to make the scoreline more emphatic.
Having topped the table at the start of November, Peterborough have won just once in their past six matches.
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Hide AdAfter keeping his troops in the changing room for more than half-an-hour following the full-time whistle, Ferguson wants a strong response.
And he warned the Posh won't be in the promotion shake-up if they fail to do so.
He told the Peterborough Telegraph: ‘What was said in the dressing room will stay in there. We discussed certain things obviously, but the bottom line now is to start showing some character.
‘We deserved to be beaten as we didn’t create enough and we conceded another goal to a set-piece.
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Hide Ad‘We had no rhythm from the start. There wasn’t a lot between the teams in the first-half, but they got on top, got in front and we didn’t respond well enough.
‘We have too many individuals out of form and our confidence has now been affected. This is now a big problem.
‘Promotions are never easy and winning them is often down to how you respond to setbacks. We enjoyed an outstanding October, but since we lost at Crewe at the start of November we have played well in one game out of six.
‘It’s now time we showed some mettle. We need to show some character and resolve and end this poor run of form, but then it’s easy to talk about it, we have to go out and do it.
‘We’ve shown already this season we have the ability. The issue for me now is mental. We need to dig deep and start performing again.’