ROVERS secured another draw to stretch our unbeaten run to five matches as the trip to Port Vale on Saturday ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

Darrell Clarke sprang a surprise before kick off as Lee Brown was on the bench and Bob Harris made his debut for the club at left back.

The former Sheffield United defender was signed on a deal until the end of the season to provide defensive cover and had an unforgettable game for all the wrong reasons as he was responsible for an own goal to give the Valiants the lead in the 54th minute.

Prior to that, we were forced into further defensive reorganisation as Partington had to go off injured in the seventh minute. Montano was brought on and Sinclair was then deployed as a right-back.

Lockyer also had to leave the field at half time with an injury and Burn was brought on to make his debut.

Defensively we were largely untroubled which is a testament to the players’ ability to adapt to the changes that had to be made.

Bodin was again Rovers’ saviour as a brilliant strike from just outside the area in the 78th minute rescued a point.

But Clarke pulled no punches after the game, blasting a ‘lacklustre’ performance and expressing his disappointment over the forward play.

We lacked creativity and failed to make good use of the ball when we had possession.

Harrison and Gaffney have yet to click as a partnership or provide evidence that they could score the goals to mount a serious play-off push.

We have yet to see enough of James to know if he can command a regular starting place but the players know they need to prove themselves to the manager or they will be replaced.

It was a decent point away from home to leave us 10th but could have been better against a struggling side.

A big improvement is needed as we face two of the top three sides in the division over the next week, as Scunthorpe visit the Mem on Saturday and we travel to Bolton next Tuesday.