Danny Wilson insists that his side's first 0-0 of the season had more to do with the quality of the Bristol Rovers pitch than Pools' display.

The surface at The Memorial Stadium was heavily sanded and extremely uneven, making for a difficult game,

"It's the first 0-0 of this season and the way we set ourselves out, we knew we would be difficult to break down," Wilson told the Official Website.

"Arran made a terrific save and there were a couple of instances where we could have done better and got a goal but there was a slight lack of composure and they didn't go in.

"But the pitch dictated everything really - it is really poor quality and I feel sorry for them having to play on it every other week.

"The rugby really does take its toll and you just can't play football on it.

"The ball players like David Foley and Andy Monkhouse need control over the ball but it was just around the family jewels all the time out there."

But Wilson did have praise for his players who worked hard despite the poor conditions,

"The first half we were against the wind but in the second half I thought we ran the show and at times they really didn't know how to tie us down.

"The three strikers worked brilliantly and made it very difficult for them and the passing at times was very good considering the state of the pitch.

"On a better pitch it would definitely have been a better game and I would have fancied us to win it."

The game a Bristol Rovers saw Wilson go with the 4-3-3 formation for only the second time and this new style showed some promise,

"You get that bit of pace which works well down the wide and it gives the strikers a bit more freedom.

"At times we had five going forward today and when we had to defence, we blocked all of the space up."

And the Pools boss was also keen to praise his defence for dealing with the threat of Rovers,

"I thought Nelse and Ben played very well as a central pairing this afternoon.

"I also thought Arran played well today - he grew in confidence and played well in difficult conditions, especially when balls are being played back to you on bumpy ground."