Boss Roy Keane slammed his team’s second half performance as the Blues surrendered a 1-0 half-time lead to lose 3-1 at rock bottom Peterborough.

Keane said: "We live in the real world. We defend each other but when you have three thousand fans here to see you, you must be better.

"It is not good players that get you out of trouble, it is characters and in the last 25 minutes I never felt we were going to get back into it.

"I have defended the players this season as they have always given their all, but we died out in the second half and I need to put my finger on why tonight and we must do more.

"You can have 90% of the possession but if you don't score and don't defend set-pieces you will lose games.

"There is no hiding place. In any walk of life you have got to show some character and we had none."

The Blues boss felt a second first half goal would have settled the match in Town’s favour: "We got a foothold in the game but we didn't get that second goal that I think would have been enough to have won us the points.

"Their goal in the first minute of the second half changed the game. It was a crazy goal to give away. We had the kick-off, we didn't clear the ball, dived in for the challenge. I'm not sure it was a foul but you still have to defend the set-piece and we didn't do that.

"Their second goal was a good goal but the third was another set-piece and we have to be better than that.

"Credit to Peterborough, they took the game to us but our second half performance wasn't good enough. It was disappointing, frustrating - and a lot worse but you won't be able to print it!

"The last 20 minutes we lost that bit of spark and it looked as if we had played over the weekend and they had a few days off, not the other way round.

"I think we will be in the bottom three tomorrow night as other teams around us will pick up results.

"We had a fantastic following again but we let the fans down tonight and that's not acceptable. We have to make sure we bounce back on Saturday at Sheffield Wednesday."

Peterborough boss Jim Gannon made an important tactical change just after the half hour, taking off Craig Mackail-Smith, bringing on Reuben Reid and switching to a five-man midfield.

Gannon says he should have gone with that plan from the start: "I made a difficult decision to try and accommodate a certain player and I compromised my beliefs to get him in. I will never do that again.

"I was disappointed in myself as we looked poor in the first half an hour but I made the change and it was justified.

"Straight away Reuben gave us width and penetration and you could see signs from then that we would be more purposeful.

"We didn't show enough quality maybe but in the second half we had more tempo and certainly did enough.

"I just reminded them at the break about what we have been working on and we played my way after the break.

"I have learned a lot in my short time here and if we play like that for the majority of the remaining games then we will give ourselves a chance."

Photo: Action Images

Johnny_Boy added 01:04 - Feb 17 Keane Slams His Own Second-Half Substitutions
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N4_Blue added 01:25 - Feb 17 Similar pattern to last week - should have put the game beyond reach in the first half and then look nervous in the second half and let them back in - this week we got truly punished. All three goals they scored were down to ridiculous defending. How many corners did we get yet they comfortably cleared their lines, yet we let them score a third from a corner with absolutely no marking what so ever. Positives: Murphy looked quality and was unlucky not to score a wonder goal at 2-1 and the amazing support - hope we can repeat that at Wednesday on Saturday because we really need to get behind the team Negatives: Healy looks out of his depth at moment but needs time and the odd substitions

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ChambersM added 01:27 - Feb 17 i dont know if l'bitter was injured or what but anyway taking of garvan was a mistake, and if l'bitter wasnt injured, then thats shocking from keane! Still dont see the sense in loaning out our top scorer. keane out
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bennyblue added 01:29 - Feb 17 i think your first half performance is just as bad roy. in fact your whole performance is useless i have mentioned it a few times this season but your brainwashed blind rabid followers just keep denying it . will reality sink in this time probably not' if the past is any guide. i figured posh would beat us but not by that score .keane you have turned a good playoff challenging team into a definate relegation candidate with no ticker in 10 months.it would be a shame to see posh go down at least they have a bit of fight left in them unlike the team you have assembled

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sherborneblue added 01:36 - Feb 17 see you later roy
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OnlyOneSirBobby added 01:37 - Feb 17 whatever he says before a game, he should say again at half time, the amount of times this season we have scored early has been incredible, but lately the 2nd half performances have been pretty poor, and late goals have cost us
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bennyblue added 01:40 - Feb 17 its roy keane thats cost us and the price could be a lot worse yet
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mightytown added 02:17 - Feb 17 i have to say, this result has left me gutted. shocking, terrible, terrible result. all i have left is blind faith that we will be alright. ive been in support of the gaffer all season but thats it, he has been total dross. this is the time we need to show a will and desire to win, its not there, we bottled it. Keep on trucking tho...COYB!
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Blueknight85 added 02:37 - Feb 17 even I think he should go now....and definitely will if he doesn't win the next two games coz that will be us bollocksed and i cant see Evans and Clegg having much choice after that I don't agree with the average Joe's statement though the players we have brought are not average Joe's they are good Joe's that are playing KaK in one way or another be it the poor tactics or psychological state given the way the season has gone all the players we have got in have been of a much higher calibre than we have targeted for years some have performed really well individually and have been incredibly good signings. martin and Priskin have not but are still young and i think next year will come good Priskin in particular, Edwards has been nothing like what he was for Sunderland he is the one im most disappointed in. i would like to see Sven,Burely, Mowbray (possible str8 swap for Keane to Celtic :D ) or Peter Taylor I wouldn't mind Curbs would be nice but would have no interest in us, if he returns to management it will be for a half decent premier club or England

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tractordamage added 03:46 - Feb 17 Blueknight85 on Monday......."I have common sense in what has had to happen and what it takes... the rite time to hate him as much as allot of people on here seem to is this time next year if we are in the same position. or if we do actually get relegated" This was part of your aggressive reply to a guy who dared(?) to question Keane as manager, just the day before the Peterboro game....you didn't mention the 'right time' as....er.....the very next day?? When Mightytown wrote....."and to those keane haters, if you cant see the good that keane has done for this team you are fools", and then had a dig at "the fickle nature of supporters" Blueknight supported him with....."Well said Mightytown" I'm not an excitable pro-keane/anti-keane type, so apologies if I cannot join in the inevitable 'defence-of-one's-pride' later today. Fantastic irony though....thanks fellas....this was my only giggle of a crap football night ;)

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Jesney_Havoc added 05:56 - Feb 17 Taxi for Mr Keane
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streety86 added 06:35 - Feb 17 Bring back burley
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N4_Blue added 07:14 - Feb 17 Although I am having my reservations about him, it would be absolute suicide to get rid of Keane now. It's asking too much of a new manager to reverse our situation in a few months with players he has inherited and no opportunity to bring in his own kind in. Look at Charlton last year - their change of manager did nothing but take the team down quicker. Keane has put us into this situation and it's best to leave him to get us out of it. Aswell as saving the dignity of our club, he has his own pride to protect and you can imagine he will do everything to protect that which can only be good for us in the end. The poor season we are having needs to be reflected upon when it ends but during this crucial period, we need to get behind the team (like we have been showing) because getting on the players and managers back will only backfire on us.

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 07:16 - Feb 17 Obviously very disappointing. Somehow I'm not surprised. I rather thought we might get turned over at 'Boro as results don't usually follow the expected pattern, e.g. beat all the weak teams and lose to the better teams. What is clear is that we now need to start winning some matches, as a win and a loss is, as we all know, better than two draws. Unfortunately, I don't see too many wins on the horizon with this set up, and we are in real trouble. Something is obviously wrong with the basic strategy we are using. It seems to me we have prioritised endeavour at the expense of creativity. We start off like an inexperienced youngster in a long-distance race and then we run out of steam. After that we don't have the guile (passing game?) to resist the fightback that inevitably occurs. What team doesn't constantly harp on about effort and fitness? We need to play some football on top of those qualities too. Hats off to the away support, by the way. I hope as many as possible will be at Wednesday, as you will be needed! If I were in the UK, I'd make this match my priority. COYB

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howsey51 added 07:24 - Feb 17 Although his position is fast becoming untenable, you can't sack a man now... That would be us gone for sure
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bedsitfc added 07:38 - Feb 17 very positive first 30 mins but after that it went down hill. very pleased with the support but even we became quiet after first half. keane said "players wont be disappearing down the tunnel after games anymore" well keane after the whistle they were gone and they should have been at our stand to thank the support
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bluelad7 added 07:42 - Feb 17 n4 blue - you took the words right out of my mouth[what a great name for a song!]. we gotta stick with it. RK rules and next season will be the year. Keep the faith.
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Mark added 07:44 - Feb 17 Why can't we have a settled 11?! The team is chopped and changed around every week and there are so many things I do not understand. Where is David Wright, surely our best option at left-back? Playing Colback there then changing him with Peters seems strange - the defensive unit should be left intact if possible. Upfront we never seem to start with the same pairing, and letting Stead go doesn't make sense as surely he would have been a better option last night than bringing on Counago (and Quinn!). I am very worried this morning, as we now have a team of loan players just like Norwich last year and our big money signings like Martin and Edwards are not even featuring.

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MAVERICK added 07:52 - Feb 17 You can only be positive for so long. 'The Posh. have done the double over mighty Ipswich !. Its a complete joke. What has happened to this once very big club. This is the worst this club has been in 43 years that i know about. Comedy Act !
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PSGBlue added 07:52 - Feb 17 Basic mistake was left back, why are we playing Colbeck there. The Peterboro' sub Reid beat him two or three times in the first half. Then what to we do, bring on that other well known left back Peters in his place. Why doesn't Keane realise that David Wright is best for that position, if not Thatcher. We now only have one decent striker (Murphy), a mistake to get rid of Stead and of course Roades. Keane is now losing the plot. Keane Out!

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northernblues added 07:57 - Feb 17 things are looking very very uncomfortable, relegation is staring at us, if we do drop do not be suprised if evans ups and goes, in 37 years of being a town fan things have never been any where near this bad!
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nobrain added 08:12 - Feb 17 Hugely disappointing , if not entirely unexpected, result. I'm sure that many will be calling for RK to go now - with good reason, as you can't argue with the results. However, we have to think about what would happen if he did go - would any manager want to take us on in our current position - and, if they did, would they be able to improve things in the remainder of the season?

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evansblue added 08:15 - Feb 17 Great support last night and the flares added some colour. We looked very comfortable in the first half but lost it completely in the 2nd. I am not sure why wright does not play left back. That baffles me. At least we still have something to play for this season. 'we are staying up say we are staying up'
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PaulMariner added 08:17 - Feb 17 Absolute garbage. @Marcus Evans - It was a bold move but a gamble that hasn't and will not pay off, get rid of Keane before its too late!
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bedsitfc added 08:18 - Feb 17 psgblue - colback did well before they made sub and wright would get beat with the pace of reid thats why peters was changed for garvan and colback pushed up into midfield
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