Doncaster Rovers: We mustn't think we're doomed after '˜devastating' defeat - Ferguson

But he says Rovers cannot allow themselves to think that the heartbreaking nature of the loss means the writing is on the wall for the club in the League One survival battle.

James Coppinger put Rovers ahead but Aaron Williams equalised on the stroke of half time before a Thorsten Stuckmann mistake allowed Ricardo Almeida Santos to tap in a stoppage time winner.

“We got a very positive performance, second half in particular,” said Ferguson.

“I would have been disappointed with a draw, so to lose the game you can imagine what the dressing room is like.

“It’s a devastating result for us, given the manner which we played.

“The start we had was a carbon copy of the many clips we showed on how Peterborough play. If you win the ball you’ll counter on them for fun because of the way they play.

“After going ahead, at times, we didn’t show enough composure and we gave the ball back to them too much in the first half.

“Both goals are awful ones to lose but now’s not the time for me to be criticising people because it’s just not the right thing to do.”

He added: “I think most people would agree that 90 per cent of the time, if you get a performance like that in the second half, you win the game. That’s what we’ve got to look at.

“A lot of people now will be thinking we could be doomed because it just looks like it’s going that way.

“But we’ve just got to take the positives out of the game.

“I couldn’t believe the decision the goalkeeper’s made for the second goal, I’ve got to be honest. But he didn’t mean to do it. No one means to make mistakes.

“It was a more positive performance though. We created a lot of chances.

“Tyson went one on one after 80 minutes. That was probably the best chance for us to win the game.”