Lee Tomlin 'better' than ex-Peterborough duo, says Ferguson

Tomlin has scored 11 times in 41 league games for Posh

Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson has hailed striker Lee Tomlin as a better player than former Posh strike duo Aaron McLean and Craig Mackail-Smith.

Tomlin, 22, netted a hat-trick in Saturday's 7-1 win over Ipswich, with Paul Taylor also among the goals.

"Paul's similar to Craig and Aaron in terms of energy and pace, he's a good finisher," Ferguson told BBC Look East.

"Lee for me, ability wise, is better than the whole lot of them, he's got more ability, he could be anything."

Posh had for so long benefited from the strike partnership of McLean and Mackail-Smith, with the pair scoring 150 league goals between them.

But since McLean's departure to Hull in January and Mackail-Smith's summer move to Brighton, Tomlin and Taylor, along with David Ball, have taken on the responsibility of hitting the net at London Road.

Tomlin has already scored four times this season across all competitions, while Taylor and Ball have three goals apiece.

"The only players people will probably know from our side are Grant McCann and George Boyd," said Tomlin. "They've proved themselves in the Championship.

"But for the rest of us, we still need to prove ourselves, so every game's massive.

"It's important we stay in this league, whether we can kick on and do more, that's for the gaffer to decide."