Posh defender shoulders the blame for Luton's 'horrible' opener during 2-0 loss

Peterborough defender David Okagbue shouldered the blame for Luton’s crucial opening goal during the Hatters’ 2-0 success at the Weston Homes Stadium yesterday.

After a first half in which the Posh had enjoyed slightly more goal threat than their opponents, although it wasn’t anything to unduly worry Town stopper Josh Keeley, the home side began the second period looking to continue nullifying the Hatters and maybe even breakaway to sneak a goal themselves, However, those hopes went up in smoke on the hour mark as George Saville swung over a corner that saw Mads Andersen shrug off the attentions of Okagbue all too easily and send his diving header beyond the dive of Australian Nicholas Bilokapic to break the deadlock.

The opener settled Luton down immeasurably, as there was only one winner from that moment on, Jordan Clark adding a second with five minutes of normal time to play after Nahki Wells had charged down Bilokapic’s clearance, but discussing Town’s first goal, Okagbue told the Posh Plus service: “In the first half we played really well. We even started the second half better than we did at Cardiff in the previous game. We knew what we had to do and we did it, but a goal from a set-piece changed the game.

"It was my fault. Their player has ‘done’ me and he scored. Then they came at us and we struggled with the pressure they put us under. We couldn’t get a foothold in the game and they pressed the life out of us. We didn’t seem to play with the same energy and let them come on to us too much. They had runners everywhere and we didn’t execute what we had worked on as we knew how they would play.

"In the first half of both games so far we have shown what we are about, but we need to fix this second half problem and stop showing teams too much respect. They scored again late on and we just couldn’t get back into the game. We felt the game was there for us at half-time, but that set-piece changed everything and we ended up conceding two horrible goals.”

Posh boss Darren Ferguson was also disappointed with the manner in which his side were breached twice, after stating the hosts had enjoyed the better of things during the opening 45 minutes. Speaking to the Peterborough Telegraph, he added: “Some of the players are better than what they showed and I have to take the positives. In the first half we dealt with them well and we were good. Anyone at the game would be thinking that was a much better performance and now I need to find out why we are starting second halves poorly.

“I was pleased first half. We were the better team. We got a lot more control in possession than we did last week. We got our wide players into some very good positions and our three midfielders were very good, but you win and lose games in both boxes. Going forward, we did not have enough quality and then we conceded poor, poor goals.

“In the second half, we started poorly again. We gave the ball away too much, they got a bit of momentum and we couldn’t get any control of the game after that. They are very poor goals to concede. For the first one, one of our men loses one of theirs and it’s a free header. That let them get on top. With the second, the weight of the pass was a problem and the ball was played to Nick’s weaker foot, but then he should just boot it into the stand. I’ve never seen a goal scored from the stand.”