Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray was left frustrated as his team’s play-off hopes suffered a major blow in a 2-1 defeat at Peterborough.
Rovers had to play more than half the game with 10 men but went ahead with 13 minutes to go before Posh turned the contest on its head, scoring two late goals to keep alive their slim survival hopes.
Mowbray admitted: “I couldn’t see Peterborough scoring to be honest and we have to look at ourselves as to how we let those two goals in.
“It’s really frustrating to work so hard to get in front after playing with 10 men for such a long period. It’s a disappointing day.”
Mowbray’s men had returning midfielder Tayo Edun sent off for two first-half cautions after seeing a Ben Brereton Diaz goal ruled out for a foul.
They initially made light of their numerical disadvantage to hit the front through Brereton Diaz’s first goal of 2022 in the 77th minute.
But Rovers were then stung by a rousing revival as Posh jumped off the bottom with two goals in four minutes.
Sammie Szmodics tucked away their 83rd minute leveller before substitute Jack Marriott curled in a classy 87th-minute winner to earn a first home victory in four months.
“Managers have to be able trust players and maybe Edun was trying too hard having been out injured for a long time,” added Mowbray. “He should have known better I think but it’s done now.
“I’m certainly not going to be the coach who hammers referees every week. We had a Premier League referee today. Good luck to him.
“The lads are on the floor in the dressing room at the moment and we have to try to pick them up in the next few days.
“We’re a very, very young team and young players find it hard. Sometimes they have to feel the pain to get better and I think our young lads are feeling that now.
“I’ve been in dressing rooms where people would be fighting right now and throwing punches at each other, but ours is quiet with lads lost for answers.
“We’ll keep trying to help them and see where the season takes us.”
Posh’s situation is still grave with a nine-point gap to safety, but manager Grant McCann said: “We were outstanding in the first half when we matched a very good Blackburn team and more.
“A lot of people think it’s easy to play against 10 men but in many ways it becomes harder. They defend in a low block and hit you on the counter-attack which is how the Blackburn goal came.
“But we showed real grit and determination to keep going, keep fighting, keep pushing and I was really happy with the two goals that won us the game.
“Sammie was absolutely brilliant despite having to play in an unfamiliar position and Jack showed again that he is a proven goal-scorer when he is fit.
“We’ve got four massive games coming up between now and the end of the season.
“The reality is we need to win all four of them and hope for others to give us a bit of luck along the way, but all we can do is worry about ourselves.”
