Chesterfield 0-1 Peterborough United

Tom Nichols joined Peterborough from Exeter on transfer deadline day

Debutant Tom Nichols scored the only goal as nine-man Peterborough United held on for a dramatic win at Chesterfield in League One.

Graham Westley's team took the lead in the second half through Nichols' flick before Michael Smith was sent off for a second yellow card.

Posh were further depleted when Ricardo Santos followed him 20 minutes later.

Chesterfield's Rai Simons and Dan Gardner had shots blocked as they looked to capitalise, but to no avail.

Tom Nichols enjoyed a day to remember after joining Posh from Exeter City

Peterborough manager Graham Westley told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire:

"They were sensational when we had nine men, backs to the wall. It was all about work ethic, desire, hunger, organisation and resilience - all the characteristics of a good side - and they showed them in abundance.

"We're not going to start talking about a play-off race because we just want to go up. The play-offs is one route up, we want to keep winning games and see where that gets us to.

"We started the day in 10th place, and that's not the best of positions if you want to talk about promotion. We've got a lot of work to do, we've got a lot of winning to do."