Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson claimed his side's defending was 'farcical' after the 5-4 Coca-Cola League One victory over Bristol Rovers at the weekend.

Craig Mackail-Smith fired a hat-trick, Aaron Mclean and Scott Rendell were also on target, but Posh were never secure and were left hanging on at the end, a fact Ferguson was bitterly disappointed about.

'It was farcical. You shouldn't score five goals at home and be hanging on for the win. It was absurd and I am not very happy about it. I have told the players in no uncertain terms that is not good enough and although we got the three points in the end, the rest of the squad can thank Craig Mackail-Smith because he was the one who won us the game.

'I need a lie down after that performance. I am sure Sky Sports were happy, the neutrals were happy, but for the managers it was a nightmare and I am sure Paul Trollope will say the same. It was horrendous watching it from the sidelines at times.

'We need to improve defensively. Gabriel Zakuani should be in this week and Craig Morgan will be back next week. To be honest I can't really fault Chris Westwood because he was only 60% fit and to be fair, both he and Shane Blackett were forced to do so much defending in that game because our positional play was so poor,' Ferguson told theposh.com.

Posh lost the services of Aaron Mclean to a dislocated elbow in the first period and Ferguson admits he may have to bring another striker into the club to boost his options up front.

'Aaron will be out for a number of weeks, so I need to strengthen that area of the pitch. George Boyd can play up there, but I think we need to bring bodies in and freshen things up,' Ferguson added.

The Posh World subscribers can see all the goals from the nine-goal thriller by signing in and checking out the 'match highlights' section.