Ferguson hits back at Wigan Athletic chief

Latics had led through Thelo Aasgaard's wonder-goal going into the last 10 minutes, only to concede two late goals - the second of which was a disputed penalty.

Richardson had to choose his words carefully in the post-match press conference, but referenced the apparent ease the Posh players fell to the deck on numerous occasions.

"I thought the officials could have dismissed it quite early, with how many times their lads went down, appealing for certain things around the pitch," opined the Latics boss.

"Obviously he's got a big decision to make at the end, the kid's gone down...

"If we'd have lost with a really good goal, a nice passage of play or a great strike, you're all right with that.

"But to lose in the manner we did, it's going to be tinged with frustration."

Ferguson, though, believes there was 'no evidence' for his opposite number's analysis.

"You should be careful about talking about opposition players," said the Posh chief.

“He should concentrate on his players and let me concentrate on mine.

“Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but there is no evidence for what he said.

"They conceded 26 fouls in the game and we felt the referee was lenient towards them.

"We felt we could have had three penalties.

“I said beforehand how physical Wigan have been recently, and I have no problem with that.

"They have reacted very well to a 5-0 home defeat.

"They were right at it against us and they had a right go, but I was pleased with how my players stuck at it.

“As for the penalty we did get, it was great skill from Siriki (Dembele) and, once he’s gone across the defender, he should leave him or accept you deserve to give away a penalty.”

Get 20% off our sports subscription package and stay up to date with all the latest Wigan Athletic news with a year’s subscription to WiganToday for less than 9p a day. Use promo code TRANSFER20