Darren Ferguson delighted with patience and professionalism of his Peterborough United side as they find way past Forest Green

Posh came out 2-0 winners thanks to a Jonson Clarke-Harris penalty and a Hector Kyprianou stunner to close the gap to the play-off places to three points.

They had to bide their time against determined hosts though as the opener did not come until the 72nd minute when Kwame Poku was tripped inside the penalty area.

The patience his side showed was among the most pleasing factors for Ferguson. He said: “

“We knew it would be difficult, regardless of their league position. I knew their players would run a lot for Duncan, the fans were up for it and they gave it their all.

“We felt they might go with a low block- like they did- it was hard to play against, there was no space inside. Towards the end of the first half, we started getting better at finding the space outside. It was one of those games where we needed to find a way to win and we did.

“We needed patience and discipline. We changed it quickly to a back three when we scored the goal. We’ve got good flexibility in the backline. I’ve been involved in games like that when you’re expected to win but there’s not many chances and you can end up losing concentration and falling behind; I didn’t see many signs of that today.

"The performance wasn’t the main thing today but it was a disciplined and professional one.”

Posh’s cause was not helped by a difficult pitch at The New Lawn which was in poor condition at the start of the game and only cut up more as the match went on.

Digging out a win was important for Posh though as Wycombe, and Shrewsbury also won, meaning the sides are all tied on 44 points, six points ahead of tenth-placed Portsmouth.

The win was sealed in style by Hector Kyprianou, who performed a Cruyff turn to get past two players in the corner, drove into the box and smashed the ball into the roof of the net for a tight angle.

Ferguson added: “Hector’s second goal is a magnificent goal. It was hard to see if it actually went in but he’s nicked it, driven into the box and I’m thinking he may as well shoot and to be fair to him, it’s an unbelievable finish.”

“That kind of pitch doesn’t make it easy when you’re forcing the game and it made it hard for us but we found a way. At the moment, we’re finding ways to win games, we’re keeping clean sheets, no opponent has scored against us and those are really key elements if you want to be successful."

Ferguson will be looking to make it four from four on Saturday as Posh host Bolton. The Trotters beat Cheltenham 1-0 on Saturday to move nine points clear of Posh in fifth.