Paul Trollope is warning his Bristol Rovers players they will have to cope with growing expectations from their fans after their flying start to the season.

The Pirates moved up to third place in League One after Jo Kuffour's stoppage-time winner sealed a dramatic weekend win over Oldham – the side's fifth in their last six league games.

But the Latics, who had set out their stall to frustrate the home side, made Rovers wait until the last few moments of the game before they were able to dig out an important victory.

Trollope said: "I can understand the frustration if we are not 2-0 up in the first half when we are at home.

"That is the expectation we have created – and we have created the expectation of flowing football as well.

"Sometimes the opposition stop you doing that, and I think Oldham did that very well. The way they pressed the ball, their organisation and work ethic, was exceptional.

"But I had a feeling at half-time that the game would open up. I didn't think they could keep that up for 90 minutes.

"I said to the players that if they kept going with the same application, they might get the winner – even if it came in the last minute. In the end, that came true.

"Once we started to play, we made it a little more expansive. Luckily enough, the best bit of quality in the game produced the goal for us.

"In years gone by we have produced our best performances on the road. But I think the way the team is evolving now and with the qualities we have got, we will see better performances at home and more wins."

Trollope is stressing that his side have to remain patient when teams come to the Memorial Stadium looking to frustrate.

"When we come up against teams at home, that is going to be the case," he said.

"I think it is important we stay patient, keep a strong mentality and keep believing in the things we are trying to do.

"We hope that after the hour mark, the game starts to open up and we are able to start to play a little bit, and that was the case on Saturday.

"It did open up and we started to pass the ball as we know we can.

"A lot of the aspects of our play weren't quite what we wanted, but another clean sheet is a massive bonus for us and we have ground out a win – we are delighted."

Transfer-listed striker Andy Williams came off the bench and created the winner for Kuffour.

And after another impressive outing as a substitute, he will be pushing for a start when Bristol Rovers travel to Brentford next weekend.

Trollope said: "Andy has been a real threat and a bonus to us when he has come off the bench on recent games.

"There have been a lot of positives, and he has been one of them.

"He won us the penalty against Huddersfield and was the architect of the goal against Oldham, so his contribution was excellent – as was that of our other substitutes Dominic Blizzard and David Pipe.

"We need another striker in the building, regardless of the strikers we have got. We do need some more strength in that area and hopefully we will be doing some business within the next week."