Darren Ferguson revealed that one of Everton’s players ‘had a pop’ at him for refusing to bring on Ashley Young’s son, Tyler, during Peterborough’s 2-0 defeat at Goodison Park.
The history-making meeting between the father-son pair had dominated the headlines leading up to tonight’s FA Cup third-round tie.
Ferguson handed Young his first-team debut in Peterborough’s League One clash with Stevenage earlier this season and the 18-year-old was named among the visitors’ substitutes on Merseyside this evening.
When Young’s old man, 39, was introduced by Everton in place of Nathan Patterson in the 73rd minute, it set up the possibility of a moment for the archives. Never before had a father and son played against each other in the competition.
But with Peterborough on the hunt for an equaliser after Beto’s 42nd-minute strike, Ferguson refused to be drawn in by the sentimentality, leaving the teenage midfielder seated as the clocked ticked down.
Instead, Ferguson used up his five substitutions on Oscar Wallin, Malik Mothersille, Ryan de Havilland, Abraham Odoh and Gustav Lindgren, before Iliman Ndiaye doubled the hosts’ advantage from the penalty spot deep into added time.
Ferguson has since faced heavy criticism on social media for leaving Young as an unused substitute, with fans aghast by the manager’s apparent coldheartedness.
Asked if it was difficult to leave Young on the bench at his post-match press conference, Ferguson replied: ‘Very, very difficult but I’ve got to do what I think is best for the team, as much as I wanted Tyler to get on.
‘If the game had been 2-0 at that point then I would have put him on but it’s 1-0.
‘I’ve got to get a forward on, I’ve got to try and get something out of the game, I’ve got to do what’s best for the team and we’re not a charity case.
‘As much as I wanted Tyler to get on with his dad… one of their players had a bit of a pop at me which is bang out of order.
‘I’ve got to do what’s best for the team and at that point, it’s 1-0, I’m trying to get a result.’
Asked to elaborate on the incident, Ferguson replied: ‘Listen, it was small things but nah, not for me, that.
‘I’ve got to do what’s best for the team.’
Despite the outcome, Ferguson was pleased with his side’s performance and felt Beto’s goal just before half-time was the ‘turning point’.
‘I thought we did very well. I asked the players to do themselves justice and they did more than that,’ the Posh boss continued.
‘The two big chances we have at 0-0, their first goal was the turning point in the game. We have given them a game. It wasn’t until the last seconds they managed to wrap it up.
‘We are disappointed that we are out of the cup, we didn’t come for a night out but the boys acquitted themselves well.’
Ferguson said it was an ‘unusual situation’ taking on a club that had parted ways with their manager just hours beforehand.
‘Like everyone else we were surprised by Sean [Dyche]’s departure and sorry to see him go because he’s a good man,’ he went on.
‘It was done on the day of the game, I have never had that before, it was an unusual situation.’
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