Matt Taylor praised his Bristol Rovers side’s defensive improvements compared to last season after their goalless draw at promotion hopefuls Rotherham United on Saturday afternoon.

Last season, the Gas were the fifth-weakest team in League One, conceding 68 goals. However, in the new team, they started with two consecutive clean sheets, something they had not previously managed in the entire league season.

Rovers were undoubtedly lucky as Josh Griffiths was forced to make a number of saves, three of which were rated as “great” in the first half. They again struggled to stay united in the final third but once again showed great strength in defence and kept a physically strong and robust Millers side at bay.

“It was a tough game, wasn’t it?” the Rovers manager explained after the game. “But did we expect anything different? My main point is how far we’ve come because I think last season that game had a bigger impact on our intentions. We could have still lost the game today but in terms of what we wanted to achieve and come out of it, I think the boys stuck to their task.

“We were lucky at times, the goalkeepers had to save balls, the defense was excellent. We need to use the ball better. We showed that in the first 15 minutes and I think it will be a good afternoon for us. Then they got the game under control and got going and we just lost the thread a bit.”

“Too many fouls and free kicks. Too many set pieces. Too many opportunities for the opposition to lose the ball and put us under pressure, and then we’re back in goal against one of the strongest teams in the league. But staying alive and having a clean game is an important point.”

Both Promise Omochere and Ruel Sotiriou were able to get into interesting positions early in the first half, but that bright start quickly fizzled out as Rotherham piled on the pressure and the home crowd, who were expecting an immediate return to the Championship this season, spurred the team on.

Despite having their resolve nearly broken a couple of times, the Gas largely held firm and left South Yorkshire with four points from two games to start the season and zero goals conceded. However, there is clearly room for improvement, with only one goal scored and scoring opportunities still hard to come by.

“After 15 minutes I was standing there and I was so pleased with how we started the game,” Taylor added, “because we had the ball in our hands and we used it and it looked like we could launch an attack. We didn’t have any chances to score but I was pleased with how we started the game and then suddenly it started to slip away from us. I was standing on the sidelines and I saw it happening in front of my eyes. You can’t really control it but you could see how it affected the players.

“One thing we didn’t lose today: our will to defend our goal. We actually had the best chance of the second half, but I don’t think we could have said that we deserved the three points.”

“We definitely got a point considering the way the game went, the chances they created and the goalkeeper’s saves. I’ll definitely take that. That’s how it is when you play football away from home.”