The key takeaways from Hartlepool United's goalless draw with Tranmere Rovers

Paul Hartley suggested that a draw was a fair result in context but was left frustrated after watching his side waste a golden opportunity in the first half when winger Jake Hastie was denied by goalkeeper Ross Doohan with a clear sight of goal.

It leaves Hartley without a win in his first five games in charge in all competitions for Pools ahead of Saturday’s visit of Bradford City.

And here are some of the key takeaways from Pools’ home stalemate.

Change from the start and flexibility

Following the arrival of winger Wes McDonald, Hartley tweaked his formation for the visit of Tranmere to accommodate the former Birmingham City and Walsall man.

Where Hartley has operated with a 3-4-2-1 formation in the last couple of games, with Hasite and Callum Cooke operating in narrow No.10 roles, here he went with a more outright 3-4-3 set-up with Hastie and McDonald wide of lone striker Josh Umerah.

“We went with a shape where we tried to get our wide players in the game early and be really creative and play with a lot of speed,” Hartley said.

“I felt we were OK in the first half. The second was a little bit huff and puff without real quality.”

One reason for that in the second half might have been due to the fact Hartley had to adjust his formation owing to an injury picked up by defender Euan Murray.

The Scotsman was replaced by Mohamad Sylla as Hartley switched to a back four in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Cooke moving into the No.10 role and Sylla joining Nicky Featherstone in the double pivot.

And while Hartley may begrudge his side’s lack of creativity after the break, he can be pleased with their defensive solidity against a robust Tranmere outfit.

Goals are, of course, what matters to Pools at this moment in time, but the shape and organisation of the team looks quite healthy, particularly in their two outings at the Suit Direct Stadium, regardless of the formation used, with that flexibility a good tool to have.

Hastie’s moment

Much like Umerah’s glaring opportunity when Pools were 2-1 down at Northampton at the weekend, this was the kind of chance you simply cannot pass up.

Having burst beyond the last man, Hastie found himself clear on goal and, almost, had too much time on his hands to decide how he would beat Doohan.

Hastie will only be too aware of the opportunity he had, and will no doubt have replayed it, and converted, numerous times in training since.

And it’s important that Pools, supporters and players, allow Hastie to move on from things.

The positive is that Hastie was in that position in the first place.

Over the early period of the season the issue for Pools has been the failure to get enough bodies in and around Umerah to capitalise on his physical abilities.

Here we saw Hastie, and Cooke who played the pass, bursting beyond the last line of defence to carve out the opportunity which has to be seen as a plus, even if it was not converted.

Umerah out of position

As Hartley suggested, Pools lost a little bit of their impetus going forward after the break with ‘huff and puff’ an astute way to assess things.

The key factor behind this was striker Umerah being drawn out wide in search of the ball.

On too many occasions, Umerah could be seen bustling his way down the right up against Kyle Jameson and crossing the ball.

The problem is, there was often very little in the area for him to cross to, with him being unable to get on the end of his own crosses.

Pools need to find away to provide a more consistent line of ammunition to Umerah through the middle of the final third.

McDonald debut

With McDonald given the nod from the start the focus was on Pools’ new man and he gave supporters plenty to be optimistic about.

Straight from the off McDonald was involved in the wide left position, often showing his quick feet and pace to beat an opponent.

The 25-year-old saw an early effort blocked with ex-Pools man Neill Byrne and wing-back Josh Dacres-Cogley struggling to occupy the winger.

McDonald eventually swapped over to the right-hand-side, where he enjoyed less success up against Ethan Bristow other than picking out David Ferguson with a fine through ball into the penalty area.

Back on the left of a three behind Umerah in the second half and McDonald came close to grabbing a goal on his debut after his dancing footwork saw him cleverly advance into the area before a rash finish was off target.

Although he fatigued in the second half, it was a bright debut from McDonald with Hartley, too, sharing his appreciation.

The Pools boss said: “He did well. I thought he was lively and bright. He tired a little bit towards the end but he looked a threat in that final third. I thought he started well.”

Another clean sheet

Two goalless draws are not exactly the start Hartley would have wanted at the Suit Direct Stadium, but having conceded 10 goals away from home in three games across all competitions, it is an improvement.

And given that Pools had to change their shape with Murray’s injury, they looked resolute in defence and were worthy of the clean sheet.

Rollin Menayese gave another strong performance with his pace in recovery runs a particular asset as shown early in the game when winning a race with Elliott Nevitt to avert any danger.

Alex Lacey, who Hartley suggested was unwell, also gave a solid display in both a three and a two at centre-back.

With Pools’ lack of goals, clean sheets will be vitally important this season and that is a good start, at home, so far.