Peterborough United boss has this verdict on Sunderland draw and makes penalty claim

Darren Ferguson said he was disappointed that his Peterborough United side did not claim all three points against Sunderland, and claimed his side should have been awarded a penalty when leading 1-0.
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Ferguson said Luke O'Nien should have been penalised when Jonson Clarke-Harris saw a shot blocked not long after Siriki Dembele's opener.

Sunderland boss Lee Johnson felt that goal should have been ruled out for a foul on Callum McFadzean.

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Ferguson was frustrated that Peterborough did not make more of their strong spell after that strike, with Sammie Szmodics missing two good openings.

Aiden McGeady's stunning free kick earned Sunderland a point at PeterboroughAiden McGeady's stunning free kick earned Sunderland a point at Peterborough
Aiden McGeady's stunning free kick earned Sunderland a point at Peterborough

He said: “I am disappointed to be honest, the way the game panned out, when we went ahead, we had two really big opportunities to kill the game off through Sammie Szmodics."

"We had a clear penalty, I have watched it back, the guy has dived and saved Jonno’s shot with his hands.

"We got the goal, fantastic finish from Siriki and I thought we would go on and win it and had we got the second goal, I felt we would have gone on to win it, but we conceded a free-kick right on the edge of the box and the one player you don’t want to give free-kicks too from that range is Aiden McGeady.

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"He had already had one sighter and it is a good free-kick."

Ferguson conceded that his side had started the game slowly and praised his centre-half partnership for weathering some significant pressure in the first half.

The Peterborough United boss said it remains all to play for in the race for the top two.

“I didn’t think we started the first half with enough authority, I thought they did," he said.

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"I can’t remember them creating too many opportunities from open play. My two centre halves were excellent. We said at half-time, play with a bit more confidence and when we passed the ball we caused them problems.

“There are going to be plenty of twists and turns between now and the end of the season. This game was never going to define the season and that is how it has panned out. We still have everything in our hands because Hull have to play Sunderland.”

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