"It's a proud moment as this is the club that has given me the most success throughout my career of 34 years.

"I've been here three times and the club means everything to me. It has brought me, my wife and my family so much joy."

Harlee Dean's own goal inside the opening minute provided Posh with a perfect start as they snapped a four-game losing streak in the Championship.

Jonson Clarke-Harris made no mistake in doubling their lead from the penalty spot 10 minutes before the break after Jorge Grant was chopped down by Ryan Woods.

Clarke-Harris then fluffed a golden chance to strike again but the points were in the bag five minutes into the second period when Siriki Dembele tormented the Blues defence before summer capture Grant fired his first Posh goal from the edge of the box.

Any hopes of a City revival were ended when Gary Gardner saw red for a crude challenge on Nathan Thompson in the 65th minute.

The success came complete with a first clean sheet of the season for Posh with goalkeeper Dai Cornell enjoying a fine Championship debut after Ferguson axed Christy Pym following a dressing room incident after Tuesday's loss at Reading.

Ferguson added: "It was definitely our best performance of this season – and you could argue our best for quite some time too. It was full of conviction and one I really enjoyed watching.

"We're finding it tough on the road but at home we've been good and should arguably have at least three more points already.

"We were excellent in the first half and we told the lads the third goal would be crucial so getting that with such a wonderful finish from Jorge was huge."

Boss Lee Bowyer blamed Birmingham's below-par performance on tiredness.

He said: "Peterborough had the extra 24 hours rest with playing on Tuesday and us playing on Wednesday against a really good Fulham side – and it showed.

"They were first to everything whereas we were just a yard off in everything we tried to do.

"We couldn't physically do any of the things we're good at. It wasn't just one or two players either – it was near on all of them.

"All day nothing went our way. We couldn't score in the first half to get level at 1-1 and then they got a penalty for 2-0 10 seconds later.

"We started well in the second half after changing things around and created chances but then a pass from one of our players hit another one on the heel and Peterborough broke to score the third.

"But we can't make excuses as they were the better side and fully deserved their win.

"We've now got a full week of training in which we can recharge our batteries and work on getting things right again."