Paul Trollope labelled Bristol Rovers' attacking display as the poorest of the season so far after they suffered their fifth away defeat on the trot at Colchester United.

And the manager acknowledged that the Pirates will look to the January transfer window to beef up their front line after they barely managed a shot in the 1-0 weekend reverse in Essex.

Once Colchester took a first-half lead through Kevin Lisbie, Rovers never looked like getting back into the game.

"We were very poor in the final third – in terms of creating chances, probably the poorest we've been all season," admitted Trollope.

"I don't think their goalkeeper had a shot to save, which shows what we produced in that area of the pitch.

"At times we produced some very good defending and passed the ball quite well. But at no stage in the game were we good enough to create or score a goal.

"It's not been a problem all season, but when we got into some good areas in and around the box, we had a catalogue of poor of decisions, poor movement and poor quality. We didn't really have enough to break them down.

"Colchester will say they defended well, which we give them credit for. But from our point of view, we are usually better in the final third and able to create chances.

"As soon as we conceded, it was always going to be an uphill task –and one that we couldn't manage today."

Lacking height up front against Colchester's big defenders, Rovers marksmen Jo Kuffour and Darryl Duffy were unable to make much impression.

And with loan signing Chris Dickson going through a barren spell, Trollope acknowledged that Rovers may look for a target man in the New Year.

"We've got what's available at the moment – January is around the corner and that situation may change," he said,

"We thought we would be able to hurt Colchester in different ways, but we didn't do that often enough."

To compound Rovers' problems, they saw defenders Danny Coles and Jeff Hughes pick up their fifth bookings of the campaign, which will rule both players out of next weekend's home clash with Swindon Town.

"We were disappointed with a few of the bookings, and felt there were a few decisions that were questionable – and the bookings followed those," said Trollope.

"But I'm not sure there's anything we can do so as far as the bans are concerned. We'll take it on the chin and give someone else a chance."

Trollope is confident Aaron Lescott will be available to return to the back-line next weekend after missing the last six games with a groin injury.

"He trained with the youth team a couple of times last week as well as the first team on Thursday and came through fine," said Trollope.

"He's a naturally fit lad anyway so all being well, he should be available."

"Where we are trying to get to and the level of teams we are in and amongst means that there are going to be some ups and downs along the way," said the manager. "It's not going to be plain sailing, because if it was we'd be top of the league.

"We are not at that level yet, but we are trying very, very hard to get near it. We think we are progressing well and that there's more to come from a few players who have joined us recently.

"Hopefully, if we can strengthen where we need to in January, the progression can continue.

"We said all along that if we are in and around the top 10 or top eight in the New Year, there's no reason why we can't push on towards the play-offs."