Peterborough United’s 1-0 loss at Barnsley was an ‘injustice’ according to manager Graham Westley, who was sent to the stands on Tuesday evening.
The Posh had battled hard to earn, at least, a point at Oakwell on Tuesday evening, before a late George Williams strike stole the points for the Tykes.
And while Westley is keen to take some positives away from the game, he feels his side deserved to take at least a point back to London Road.
“There was an injustice here tonight, but we still have lots we can be positive about.” Westley told the Peterborough Telegraph. “If we keep 11 men on the field all showing the desire and determination the 10 men showed, we would have won this game.”
Irishman Chris Forrester was dismissed after 43 minutes, having picked up two yellow cards in the space of 20 seconds. Conor Hourihane stood on the midfielder’s foot, in front of the referee, before reacting angrily and being sent off.
Westley was left annoyed that Hourihane wasn’t dismissed alongside Forrester, while also being sent to the stands later in the game, saying: “I think Chris probably deserved to go, but Hourihane should have gone with him.
“Hourihane feigned a head butt which the referee saw and then stamped on Chris which the referee didn’t see. That was disappointing. Chris will have to learn not to react in those situations.”
Peterborough came into the game on the back of a 4-1 away win over relegation-threatened Colchester United, but the 48-year-old admitted he knew it was going to be tough against Barnsley.
“This was a difficult game for us anyway. It was a tough environment to come with them pushing for the play offs and the red card made it harder.” said Westley.
“But I go away from the game with a real sense of positivity. We had some young players who grew up tonight.
“We are going to finish in mid-table so we need to show the fans that we care for the shirt in the remaining games. We did that. Young players stepped up to the plate.
“It was blood sweat and tears the way we defended our goal. We showed a level of commitment I hope our fans were pleased to see.”
The Posh host Scunthorpe United on Saturday, and Westley is expected to experiment with young players once again, as Peterborough look to go in search of a title push next campaign.
