Paul Trollope said he felt disappointed and frustrated after tonight's 1-0 defeat against Hartlepool United.

The first team coach watched his players dominate a largely one-sided Victoria Park clash, only to lose out thanks to one moment of misfortune in the first half.

The defeat ends the club's six-month unbeaten away record, and leaves Rovers languishing in the bottom half of League One.

"We are very disappointed and frustrated again," Paul told bristolrovers.co.uk, "It's the first time we have lost an away game for a while, even though we dominated for long spells.

"We fell behind to a ricochet on the edge of the box, and then we piled the pressure on in the second half and had a number of decent chances and half-chances. A few were unlucky, but I don't like that word I'm afraid, because we lacked again.

"What I say to the players is a recurring theme, in that their effort was fantastic, their work ethic was very good, as was the spirit. Some of the play was excellent and we piled the pressure on and showed good character, as well all the things that you want, but we couldn't find the finishing touches.

"We can keep on saying that, but if we keep saying it and don't get the points, we deserve then we'll end up in the bottom four and we need to arrest it.

"A neutral looking at that game, will wonder how we didn't get anything from it, but that was because we didn't put the ball in the net, which is what the game is all about.

"You can be excellent between the boxes, but the game is won or lost in the penalty area and they scored and we didn't.

"Don't get me wrong, there are always positives to take from any game, and we've come to a very difficult place and we taken the game to a very good side for long periods, even in the first half. But when it's like that in games, you need to get the points you deserve because there are going to be times when teams are better than us.

"We haven't seen too many teams so far this season who we think are a lot better than us, but where they have been better is in the penalty areas. That's where we need a little bit of quick play and a good finish.

"We've had a tough spell of five games in 13 days and we've had a few setbacks along the way, but it's about how you respond. The application and the spirit was there tonight, you could see that in the performance.

"I'm proud of the team for that, and I think the fans who made the long journey up here will be as well. But it's about winning games, and whilst we have a winning mentality, we aren't winning ugly as we were towards the end of last season and that's what we could do with now.

"Our overall performance has been good again, but it's no good playing attractive football and dominating games. Swindon did that when they reached the Premiership, but they didn't win and ended up being relegated.

"We need to improve, and to improve the personnel we have, which may mean a new face or two in the next few weeks. We are coming to a group of games that, on paper, if we produce a decent level we should pick up some points.

"We have played a lot of the top teams in this division, which has been tough, but the bottom line is that we need to score goals and we need to win games.

"We have looked at where we are, and what we need, in terms of the squad. We are obviously short in the central defender area and although Craig Hinton has come in and done well tonight, he and Steve Elliott are the only two central defenders available apart from the youngsters, so that's an area we will be looking at.

"There are one or two other areas we could do with some help in. If we can do it, we will, but we will continue to work. I still believe in this group, and we've produced another good level of performance, but I'm afraid that on its own is not enough."