Lock Darren Ferguson in a room until he agrees to stay on, Peterborough United were pitch perfect, the Ronnie Edwards conundrum and impressive fan power

It’s a huge ‘if’ of course. The opposition in the play-offs will play with far greater intensity than Barnsley managed yesterday. The Tykes were good at times and they competed strongly throughout, but they lacked the ‘edge’ a Posh side, whose season was on the line, had for the entire 90 minutes.

Next up are Sheffield Wednesday who finished with a club record 96 points this season, after doing Posh a huge favour by beating Derby County yesterday, and yet managed ‘only’ third place. It’s a record tally for a team not winning promotion. They will present a far greater physical challenge for a start.

But Posh will carry the threat of a team who will be relaxed underdogs and just happy to still be playing. They couldn’t have envisaged finishing sixth after the dreadful 3-0 home loss at the hands of Wycombe Wanderers on January 1.

Play-off football is a bonus for a Posh and that makes them dangerous. They have been written off many times this season and yet they keep bouncing back. Who’s to say they can’t keep making fools of their critics?

But all that’s for the future and for now Posh folk should bask in the quality of their performance when everything was on the line yesterday…

TALKING POINTS FROM BARNSLEY 0, POSH 2…

1) It’s unclear as yet what another fortnight of action (at least) does to the managerial situation at Posh. If the club and Darren Ferguson stick to their guns and don’t discuss a permanent contract for the multiple promotion winner until the end of the season, and the manager then decides to leave, Posh could start their search for a new boss on May 30 which is far too late with a retained list, sales and new signings to consider. After yesterday’s tactical masterclass Posh should lock Ferguson in a room until he agrees to stay on.

2) Everything Fergie wanted he received yesterday. He desired a fast start and an early goal and it happened. Scoring first is vital for Posh, but it’s also important for Barnsley whose own record when falling behind is not great. Ferguson’s bold selection was justified with midfielder Harrison Burrows starting at left-back and creating both goals. The manager’s experience in pressure situations shone through and his one substitution, and the change of formation that accompanied it, was well-timed and worked perfectly. Ferguson felt Posh would need a near perfect performance from the entire team to win and the players delivered one.

3) Give Posh a lovely playing surface with plenty of width and they can pass through the thirds superbly. It happened yesterday at Oakwell. Posh won’t have a luxury pitch at their own ground next Friday which might be one reason why they’ve been so much better away from home than at the Weston Homes Stadium in 2023. A press is far more effective on a less than perfect playing surface. Posh have won eight and lost three of 11 away games under Ferguson. They’ve kept clean sheets in six of those wins. One of the three defeats was at Hillsborough though.

4) A big fear for the four remaining active League One teams will be results affected by awful refereeing decisions. A Championship referee, Leigh Doughty, was assigned to the Sheffield Wednesday/Derby County game on Sunday and made a honking decision to award the home side a soft penalty and once he’d done that he had no option to issue a red card as well. Wednesday scored and Derby missed out on the play-offs by a point. From a Posh point of view it’s hard to feel too much sympathy for the Rams given the horrendous display referee Bobby Madden (now retired thankfully) delivered when Grant McCann’s side were beaten at Pride Park, but being on the right side of bad decisions shouldn't excuse the horrific standards of officials in the Football League. Not sure what Michael Duff was banging on about either when suggesting his side should have had three penalties v Posh. It is remarkable they have not been awarded a single spot kick in a home game all season though.

5) Ronnie Edwards and Frankie Kent were superb at the heart of the Posh back four at Barnsley. If Edwards is not available for any of the play-off matches because of England Under 20 World Cup duty the chances of Posh winning promotion diminishes greatly. The player should be put under no pressure by Posh though. If he wants to, understandably, play for his country at a World Cup, it would be disappointing if the club stood in his way, if indeed thay can.

6) How good were the Posh fans yesterday? Very good is the answer. They were impressively vocal when the players emerged to walk around the pitch at 10.30am and they didn’t let up for four hours. No matter what happens next, this was a great day for all involved at the club.

7) Posh finished the League One season with 77 points, a tally they’ve only beaten once since the 2010-11 season and that was the automatic promotion campaign of 2020-21. This will be the club’s first appearance in the play-offs since the 2013-14 season when they lost to Orient in a League One semi-final.