By Ethan Georgiou

Defender Luca Murphy is relishing playing competitive football again after spending a month on the sidelines. 

"It's really good to be back out there and to be a part of the team again and not stuck in the gym watching the lads play! The fact we won the game made my return even better. I felt like we dominated the first half but we somehow still went into the break at 2-2. 

"Luckily, we managed to get the goal we needed after half-time and I was pleased with the fact we kept a clean sheet in the second half. Looking back, we shouldn't have conceded two goals in that game," Luca added.

Luca Murphy controls ball

The versatile defender, who has also played at right-back multiple times this season, still feels the league is wide open.

"There's not that many points between the top teams and the bottom teams, so every win helps lift us up that league table."

Joint Head Coach Mark Pembridge was pleased with what he saw from the players making their return.

"I thought Luca did very well today. He slotted in at right centre-back and competed effectively. He’s been out for a period of time, similarly to Ben Davis who also made his return today. Obviously they’re going to need to get up to speed but there were a lot of positives and it's a good workout for them."

Having gone in at half-time level, Mark was delighted with the way his side approached the second half.

"I thought we started the game very well but let them back into it by giving the ball away sloppily, especially for the second goal.

Pembs V Peterborough

"Second half I thought we had a resilience about us. We sneaked a goal to make it 2-3 and it was pleasing to see that we kept a clean sheet in the second half. There was desire and determination from the boys which helped them avoid conceding."

The attacking trio of Fabio Carvalho, Sylvester Jasper and Jean-Pierre Tiehi were all on the scoresheet and Mark is fully aware of the attacking quality his team possesses.

"We’re always going to create chances with the type of players we have in our team at the moment. We try and reiterate to the boys that if we can keep our shape and be difficult to score against, the opportunities will come with the threat we possess going forward."

The result means the young Whites rise up to third in the league table, with strugglers Reading next up at LSE.