JOHN Coleman saluted Peterborough’s rampant attack after seeing his Stanley side go down to their heaviest defeat since returning to the Football League 15 years ago.

Promotion-chasing Posh ran out 7-0 winners with Jonson Clarke-Harris bagging a hat-trick for Darren Ferguson’s side.

League One’s leading scorer Clarke-Harris bagged a brace inside the opening 10 minutes before Sammie Szmodics struck midway through the first half.

Szmodics doubled his tally three minutes into the second period and Clarke-Harris completed a second hat-trick of the campaign after 64 minutes.

Two substitutes then got in on the act. Mo Eisa bagged his first league goal of the season before Idris Kanu completed the rout with his first strike for the club as Posh closed to within a point of leaders Hull.

The result leaves Stanley down in 13th but still only four points outside the play-off places.

Coleman said: “It’s just unfortunate there is no Premier League or Championship football to bury this result!

“Peterborough had a day where everything went right for them and they don’t come around very often.

“It was like all their birthdays came at once as we gifted them their first two goals, but I’ve got to take my hat off to them. They ran through us time and time again and were fantastic in front of goal.

“It summed up our day when we brought young Rhys Fenlon on, he got a glorious chance to go clean through and pulled his hamstring so we had to finish with 10 men.”

Coleman, who also suffered an 8-2 hiding at Peterborough back in 2008, however insisted that the result was not the overriding issue on a nightmare afternoon at London Road.

With his resources already depleted, the Stanley boss lost Mark Hughes, Sean McConville, Ben Barclay and Fenlon to injury.

“I’m bitterly disappointed to lose 7-0 and the pride takes a beating for that, but the biggest problem is losing four more players to injury,” Coleman said.

“I can’t ever remember an injury crisis like this in almost 25 years as a manager.”