Bristol Rovers are in a better position than where they were last year believes manager Graham Coughlan.
The Gas drew 0-0 with Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday to pick up their first point in League One this season and now sit in 17th place in the table after just two games played.
In 2018/19 the club were winless at this stage having lost to Peterborough United and Accrington Stanley.
That winless run in the league was ended against Wycombe at Adams Park with a 2-1, victory, and while there were no goals to celebrate at the Memorial Stadium this weekend Coughlan says he can see evidence of the foundations being laid to build a stronger, better Rovers side than the one which were embroiled in a relegation battle for much of the previous campaign.
He said: “We knew what we were getting involved in today, we knew it was a battle, we knew it was going to be a fight.
“Wycombe didn’t let us down, we knew what they were going to bring to the table.
“We did the dirty side, we did the basics really, really well, really effectively and let’s be honest, we probably should have won that game.
“We were probably the only team, barring the last few minutes of the game where they had some pressure, but other than that I thought it should have been done and dusted by half time.”
Liam Sercombe and Tom Nichols drew saves from Chairboys keeper Ryan Allsop before the break while Victor Adeboyejo hit the post.
Coughlan said: “All in all it was a battling, honest, hard working display in which possibly a year ago we might have crumbled.
“I take myself to when we last played them back in January when we were done with a suckerpunch.
“We kept a clean sheet today, we created a number of chances this Saturday and last Saturday and it just hasn’t gone in the back of the net.”
“We got some game time into Jonson Clarke-Harris, a cleansheet, a point on the board, and we are probably in a better position than we were this time last year.”
Striker Clarke-Harris came off the bench in the 72nd minute but was a peripheral figure in the game. However the return of last season’s top scorer, after missing all of pre-season as he recovered from keyhole surgery on his lower abdomen, is indeed a huge plus point as the club’s attacking hopes rest largely on his board, tattooed shoulders.
