ROVERS gained a creditable draw at Blackpool on Saturday but remain perilously close to the relegation zone.

It was a largely uninspiring encounter at Bloomfield Road in which neither side could make the breakthrough as it ended goalless.

Picking up points away from home is to be welcomed, but we are still just four points away from the bottom four and victories are needed to steer us away from the threat of losing our League One status.

Darrell Clarke chose to leave new signing Mensah on the bench as we adjusted to life without winger Billy Bodin.

His departure was inevitable as he was out of contract in the summer but Mensah, who has been signed from Aldershot, sounds an exciting prospect with plenty of potential.

Clarke selected Harrison and Gaffney to spearhead our attack but although we went close on a few occasions, we could not create sufficient openings to turn pressure into goals.

Gaffney had a goal ruled out for offside in the opening minute and also nearly converted from a tight angle on 77 minutes.

Former Rovers loan goalkeeper Lumley also denied Nichols late in the game as we could not find the elusive goal to gain a valuable away victory.

The Seasiders had their moments when they looked threatening but the fact that both sides failed to muster a shot on target in the first half shows why they are both camped in the lower part of the table.

It was encouraging to see Lockyer back to his imperious best and his decision to sign a new contract is good news for the club.

Defensively we look fairly solid but scoring goals and creating opportunities is clearly our weakness.

Clarke has said he wants to bring in more permanent signings before the end of the transfer window and more attack-minded players will be vital to make a difference in these closely-fought games.

No doubt he is working hard behind the scenes to make this possible and hopefully he is being given the backing of the owners to ensure that quality players can be enticed to the Memorial Stadium.

We need to make the most of our home form on Saturday as promotion-chasing Bradford visit the Mem.