Peterborough have condemned “disgusting chants” sung by a “small section” of the club’s fans during Saturday’s Sky Bet League One clash with Cambridge.

Grant McCann’s side beat their local rivals 1-0 in front of an almost sell-out crowd of 12,766 at the Weston Homes Stadium but the clash was overshadowed by disorder, which also included the throwing of fireworks and extensive damage to the away end of the ground.

One of the incidents highlighted by the club was the singing of “wholly inappropriate and disgusting chants” regarding Cambridge fan Simon Dobbin, who died in 2020 – five years after an attack following a match at Southend had left him with permanent brain damage.

A statement from Peterborough read: “We would like to unreservedly apologise to the family of Simon Dobbin and we will be working with the authorities to try and identify the culprits because those people are not ‘supporters’ of this football club. We condemn these actions in the strongest possible terms.”

Peterborough said that anyone identified as having been involved in the throwing of pyrotechnics during the match would face disciplinary action, while also reporting that “extensive criminal damage” in the Deskgo Stand was “on a level not seen before” and affected toilets, offices and the concourse area.

Following the game, there was also disorder outside the stadium involving both sets of supporters. The clubs are working with police to review CCTV footage and help identify those involved.

Peterborough’s interim chief executive Leighton Mitchell said on the club website: “It is important to note that the majority of supporters in attendance behaved well, but as seen too often at football matches, it is the minority that let themselves down and unfortunately that was the case on Saturday.

“The football club offer our sincere apologies to the family of Simon Dobbin. There is no place in society for what was chanted by a small section of so-called supporters and we will be working extremely hard to identify those involved.

“We are in conversations with Cambridge United about the substantial damage caused within the away end. Unfortunately, this damage is severe and will impact on the opening of that stand in the near future.”