Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson praised his promotion-chasing team’s defensive performance following their 2-0 victory over Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium.

Ferguson spoke out after a first-half volley from Joel Randall and substitute Ricky Jade-Jones’s classy stoppage-time gave the Posh a morale-boosting victory as they get ready for the play-offs.

“I told the players that clean sheets will end up getting us promoted and it really is as simple as that,” Ferguson said.

“That’s why I enjoyed that win a lot and I’m really pleased with the players, especially in terms of what we did out of possession.

“I asked them to be more solid and compact and they did that really well and were really well organised. We limited them to next to no clear-cut chances.

“Keeping clean sheets is not simple to do and that’s why we had a good meeting before the game when we went through everything in detail.

“We looked back at some of the chances we’ve been giving up so and I asked them to be more connected and the players deserve lots of credit as they were outstanding.”

Ferguson was also pleased with his goal-scorers after Randall took his personal tally of goals to 11 while Jones now has 13 goals to his name.

“I still had one eye on if Derby slipped up and we were getting told about the Derby score but we just had to concentrate on our jobs here,” Ferguson added.

“After the first 10 minutes we got control and some of our football was outstanding.

“I was especially pleased with Joel because we’d been asking the team to team to get more bodies into the box to support our striker Jonson Clarke-Harris. And with Ricky we’d been asking him to get in front of his man more so it was really pleasing when he made the points safe.”

Rovers manager Matt Taylor said the result highlighted his team’s shortcomings.

“Their physicality was one thing that stood out for me,” Taylor said. “They were not only able to wriggle out of but drive out of certain situations and it showed there’s a real need for a added profile to this group.

“We have some fantastic ball players but speed, pace and power are other huge assets at this level and they had both the ball players and that today which is why they are such a good team.”

Taylor, who was without suspended striker Chris Martin, added: “We didn’t get close enough to man and ball often enough in the first half and we gave them too much respect certainly in the deeper layers of the pitch.

“They were able to go through the pitch on the back of it and it was a poor opening goal to concede. We forced more moments after the break but it didn’t materialise in the box.”

Goals from Joel Randall and substitute Ricky Jade-Jones secured promotion-chasing Peterborough a comfortable 2-0 victory over Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium.

Former Rovers striker Jonson Clarke-Harris was handed a chance to show his old club what they are missing as Peterborough dominated but ended up being upstaged by his colleagues.

Midfielder Randall put Darren Ferguson’s side in command with his 11th goal this season on 41 minutes with a cool close-range volley following Malik Mothersille’s deflected cross.

After the break, Peterborough goalkeeper Jed Steer came to his team’s rescue with a smart save to thwart Scott Sinclair after the former Celtic winger outwitted Josh Knight in the penalty box.

Steer then pulled off a fine stop to deny Rovers skipper Antony Evans when he let fly from distance as the hosts pressed for an equaliser but there was to be no stopping Peterborough.

Jade-Jones, on for Mothersille, applied the finishing touch in the fifth minute of stoppage time with a back-heeled effort for his 13th goal this term after being teed up by Harrison Burrows.

Darren Ferguson piled praise on his “relentless” Peterborough players after they followed up EFL Trophy success by boosting their automatic promotion bid.

Posh jumped to within six points of second-placed Derby – and also boast two games in hand – by brushing aside struggling Vale.

Joel Randall broke the deadlock in the final seconds of the first half with a blast that took a double deflection on its way past Connor Ripley after Harrison Burrows’ short corner.

EFL Trophy final hero Burrows doubled the advantage from the penalty spot 11 minutes into the second half and the Posh captain was again the architect when his 86th-minute cross was headed into his own net by Alex Iacovitti to compound Vale’s misery as they dropped back into the bottom four on goal difference.

Delighted Posh boss Ferguson said: “That is as well as we have played at home for a long time.

“It was a really good performance from my team… mature, confident, some great football and a clean sheet.

“We didn’t panic when the first goal took a while to come and then we had complete control in the second half.

“I was really pleased with the result but the manner of the performance at this stage of the season is what delighted me the most.

“People might have wondered what we would look like after Sunday but we were so fresh physically and running all over them.

“These lads are relentless. I have to give them and the staff a lot of credit.

“We know Derby drew and dropped points but we just keep looking at the next game. I’ve already watched Oxford today and we’ll look no further ahead than that on Saturday.”

Vale boss Darren Moore admitted: “It was a difficult night for us.

“If we could have got to the break with the scores level, it might have created a bit of anxiety around the place.

“But the first goal on the stroke of half time really changed my team-talk and gave us a mountain to climb in the second half.

“Peterborough are an excellent and free-scoring team with a lot of attacking options and move the ball really well. Up to a point, the boys stuck to the gameplan to nullify and contain them well.

“It’s just disappointing to concede the first and second goals in the manner we did from corners as we’d worked on that.

“The first goal took two deflections and the second one is a switch-off at the far post which leads to a penalty.

“The third one is then an own goal but I’ve got no complaints in terms of the commitment and energy the boys showed.”

Peterborough boosted their automatic promotion hopes with a 3-0 triumph that sent Port Vale plunging back into the relegation zone.

The hosts ended a frustrating first half on a high when Joel Randall’s 25-yard thunderbolt sailed past helpless keeper Connor Ripley – courtesy of a double deflection off Vale men Rhys Walters and Alex Iacovitti – to hand them the lead seconds before the break.

Randall, Ephron Mason-Clark, Ricky-Jade Jones and Kwame Poku had all squandered good chances before Ripley pulled off a fine save to deny Archie Collins, but the following corner – taken short by captain Harrison Burrows to Randall – led to Posh hitting the front.

Burrows followed up his EFL Trophy final heroics with another goal as Posh doubled their lead 11 minutes in the second half.

The captain struck for the 12th time this season when he sent Ripley the wrong way from the spot after Ryan Loft’s pull on Josh Knight.

And Burrows was again involved when Posh put the result beyond doubt in the 86th minute as his left-wing cross was headed into his own net by the unfortunate Iacovitti.

Vale fell back into the bottom four on goal difference as they failed to manage an attempt on target until second half stoppage time when substitute Uche Ikpeazu’s blast was spectacularly tipped over by Jed Steer.

Darren Ferguson praised his players and staff after Peterborough battled back to beat struggling Shrewsbury.

Sky Bet League One’s lowest scorers led the division’s highest scorers at the break thanks to Jordan Shipley’s strike in the 41st minute of a game which went ahead after a second pitch inspection.

But it was a different story in the second half, with Joel Randall tapping in at the end of a fine 51st-minute move to drag Posh level before Josh Knight headed in a Harrison Burrows corner to complete the turnaround in the 68th minute.

Randall struck a post in stoppage time, but Posh had done enough to retain second spot, while a sixth defeat in their last seven league outings sent Shrewsbury sliding towards the drop zone.

Ferguson said: “I’m really proud of the players – this is as important a win as we’ve had all season.

“I’m sure people looked at our form, their form and had it down as a home banker, but it’s never that easy.

“The worst thing was conceding a really soft goal which gave Shrewsbury something to hang onto.

“It was the sort of game where we just had to find a way and we did it.

“Joel was the best player on the pitch in the second half and got us level.

“We’ve got an excellent coach in Dale Tonge who works really hard on set pieces and it was great to see a corner come off.

“The ground staff did a brilliant job to get the game on with the weather we’ve had.

“I’ve had it before where so much effort has gone in and then we’ve lost the game.

“That was in the back of my mind, but we came through it with a win.”

Shrews boss Matt Taylor said: “I thought we were excellent in the first half and probably edged it. Away at Peterborough, that’s never easy to do.

“We had some good moments and Jordan took his chance really well, but we spoke at half-time about how the first-half performance meant nothing.

“I can understand and accept the first goal Peterborough scored as it was a moment of quality which you’re always going to get playing against a team who are likely to get promoted.

“But to be stood here having lost a game of football due to conceding from a set play, is unacceptable.

“We spend a lot of time working on them. If you are given a role you have to do it, but we didn’t do that today.

“I should be talking about a good point gained, but instead it’s about not getting the result we want and that’s disappointing.

“I felt the performance was good, but the result isn’t.”

Salford were denied an FA Cup upset in the 93rd minute as Emmanuel Fernandez’s header rescued a 2-2 draw for Sky Bet League One Peterborough United.

The centre-back was brought on as a late substitute and played up front as Posh chased a game they trailed thanks to two howlers from Nicholas Bilokapic.

The League Two side took the lead after just four minutes when the keeper passed the ball straight to Stephen Mallan from the edge of his box, who fired into an empty net.

They held the lead throughout the first half but Ricky-Jade Jones levelled for Posh just 25 seconds into the second half.

Joel Randall cut back a pass to Jones and it was a simple finish for the forward.

Posh then took control of the game but their efforts came grinding to a halt when, after 69 minutes, Bilokapic inexplicably let Zak Sturge’s backpass roll under his foot and trickle into the net.

Fernandez forced a replay in the dying seconds by heading in Ephron Mason-Clark’s cross from inside the six-yard box.

Peterborough stretched their unbeaten Sky Bet League One run to six games as a second-half double saw off Lincoln, 2-0.

The hosts had the woodwork to thank for not being behind at the break as Lincoln’s Danny Mandroiu lifted a shot against the bar before Sean Roughan missed with a free header from a corner.

But it was all about Posh in the second period as David Ajiboye came off the bench to set them on the way to glory in spectacular style in the 53rd minute, racing onto an Ephron Mason-Clark pass and arrowing a terrific 20-yard strike past goalkeeper Lukas Jensen.

Ajiboye, introduced late in the first half following an injury to Kwame Poku, had seen another effort saved by Jensen moments before making the breakthrough.

Jensen then denied Peter Kioso and Mason-Clark fired over before Posh clinched the points in the 83rd minute courtesy of Joel Randall’s first EFL goal for the club, more than two years after his arrival.

The former Exeter player coolly controlled a Mason-Clark cutback from the left and steered a low shot past Jensen to seal victory, before Harrison Burrows came close to a third in stoppage-time, striking the bar with a shot.