Peterborough United boss Darren Ferguson: Give Michael Appleton time at Charlton Athletic

Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson has urged Charlton Athletic to give head coach Michael Appleton time.

Posh’s 2-1 win at The Valley extended the the South London club’s winless run to eight League One outings.

The Posh are second in the table and prevailed in SE7 thanks to Ephron Mason-Clark’s brace either side of Alfie May’s leveller for the home side.

Ferguson, who rebuffed an approach from Charlton for the vacant managerial post that was eventually filled by Appleton following the sacking of Dean Holden in August, said: “It’s a very good win.

“Charlton are not going so well at the moment. I think Michael will get there with this club. They’ve got to be patient. He’s a good manager. The signings he’s made is just the start. I think they’re going to have a bit of a go.

“Any team that come here and win, it’s a big win. No question. It’s a tough place to come.

“They changed their formation to one I don’t think they’ve played very often, a back three. We didn’t plan for that. But 75 per cent of teams in this league play a back three, we knew how to play against it. We were completely dominant. There was no real threat against us. Defensively we dominated the game.

“At the start of the second half we had four unbelievable chances but didn’t take one. The crowd had turned, it can happen here. They turn, they’re booing the players off. They got a bit of momentum at the start of the second half but if we can get that second goal it kills that off. The opposite happened. You can see that goals and a momentum shift in the game can happen so quickly. Alfie May scores, as he always does against us the little…thing. I won’t say what I was going to say.

“They were on top, we lost control. They were good for the first 15 minutes of the second half. They were enthused by their goal but it suited us as we were counter attacking. We should have scored before we did.

“They’re very good in transition, Charlton. They changed things at half-time and brought another striker on. But we should have put them away before then.”

PHOTOS: PAUL EDWARDS