Paul Trollope felt his Rovers side could have won this afternoon's League One opener against Port Vale.

The Pirates looked the better side in the Vale Park clash, although had to settle for a point after coming back from a controversial Luke Rodgers penalty.

There were chances throughout the 90 minutes for the visitors to have enhanced their goal tally further, but in the end Paul was relatively content with the afternoon's work.

"I possibly thought we could have won it at the end," Paul told bristolrovers.co.uk, "Overall I was very pleased with the performance though, especially defensively when we were a lot better than we have been in some pre-season games.

"When we went a goal down from the penalty we showed good desire and spirit, we kept our focus and we kept playing. It was our first dip into this division, and we thought that Port Vale would be a good yardstick for us, and they were.

"We wanted a good competitive game on the first week of the season, and I think we gave them a good game and on another day we would have scored two or three.

"We feel we can compete at this level, and if we start winning games then we'll be up there challenging. Time will tell how high we finish, but we had a good edge about us today and I was pleased with how we looked."

Port Vale's goal came from the penalty spot after Steve Phillips was adjudged to have fouled Callum Willock.

"I think it possibly was a penalty, but sometimes those are given and sometimes they're not," he said, "There were a few strange decisions out there for and against us, and we said at half-time that if a bad decision was going to go against us that we would have to keep our focus.

"We did that and we showed a good reaction to going a goal down. In the end we got the goal we deserved, and we go back down the road ok."

Andy Williams will undoubtedly grab the headlines for his second half strike, but Paul was pleased with the impact of all of his substitutes.

"I think all the substitutes made a good impact today," he said, "Andy came on and scored the goal, and he'll be knocking on the door for a starting place now. We're delighted for him, he's off the mark and that will add to his confidence which will hopefully grow and grow.

"Rickie was similar last year when he first joined us, and it's good that Andy is now off the mark and I'm sure he'll go on from here.

"Lewis also did well when he came of the bench, and it shows the quality we have in the squad this season that we've got players like this coming off the bench and making such an important impact on the game."

Rovers face Crystal Palace in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night before welcoming Crewe Alexandra to the Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

"It was a good way to start the season," said Paul, "Obviously we'd have liked to have won, but there were a lot of positives for us.

"I was very pleased with our defending, because we know how much of a threat their front two are. Luke Rodgers in particular is a livewire, and I think over the whole game he only got away from us once.

"The whole team looked more competitive, we were more compact in midfield and we had the intensity I think we've been missing in pre-season. We were stopping crosses and getting in tackles, and although we picked up a few yellow cards, it was a good competitive test for us.

"We've got another couple of games to look forward to, Crystal Palace first and then Crewe. They will both be tough, but today's game will give us some confidence.

"I'm not naïve enough to be saying we'll be finishing in the play-offs after one game, but for our first taste of football in this division I'm quite pleased."