Port Vale boss Darrell Clarke rued his side’s missed chances after a frustrating goalless draw against Oldham.

The Valiants completely dominated and created a barrage of chances but are now goalless in three at home and Clarke was disappointed as they failed to ease their relegation fears.

He said: ”We weren’t good enough and didn’t have the ruthlessness in front of goal.

“On another night, if our finishing is better, we win the game comfortably.

“We’ll take the clean sheet and dominance as a positive but it was a thoroughly disappointing outcome.

“I think for large spells we were pretty dominant and many crosses were going in the box but it wasn’t to be for us.”

Captain Tom Conlon came closest to a breakthrough for the hosts with a drilled effort that struck the post.

David Worrall threatened on his return from injury and Kurtis Guthrie’s volley was well saved by Latics goalkeeper Ian Lawlor.

On Worrall, Clarke added: “He is massive for us and you saw how many good crosses he put in for the team to attack.

“We just need to get the fitness levels up and then hopefully we will get some more consistent performances.

“I need a lot more than that; it was a decent performance but let’s not get carried away. It’s still a million miles away from where I’d like to take the team and the tempo I want to see.

“The display was better but I’ll always want a lot more than that.”

Oldham boss Keith Curle took charge of his first game just 24 hours after being appointed and oversaw a resolute defensive effort.

Latics striker Conor McAleny could have won it in the second half as he stretched to force a save from Scott Brown.

Curle was pleased that his side, with League Two’s worst defensive record, held out.

He said: “We knew from a lot of the video information what to expect and we did well to withstand the physical challenge.

“We invited pressure but sometimes you have to be able to deal with that and that was a good foundation to build on.

“Our willingness to defend our goal was pleasing but some of our ball retention can get better.

“We can take credit as a team for an important clean sheet. As a starting point from one day and one game, there were pleasing aspects but there is plenty more to come.

“The application of the players was good even though I changed the system which would have been new to them.

“We had one training session and a couple of team meetings so I’ve been trying to get my message across, so it was a pleasing start.

“There’s some pieces in there that I didn’t like but we take the positives and work with those.”