MANAGER Lee Bradbury admitted to being torn between contentment and frustration after seeing Cherries fail to discover their six appeal.

Bradbury was speaking after Cherries’ hopes of breaking into the League One play-off zone had been dashed following a 0-0 draw at Hartlepool on Saturday.

While Bradbury felt Cherries had created the “better chances” at Victoria Park, he also conceded a share of the spoils had been a “fair” outcome.

He added: “We were both frustrated and pleased. It was a good clean sheet and we did a professional job. We didn’t really look like conceding and had the better chances. We were frustrated because we could have sneaked into the play-off places with a win.

“We are just going about our business and are slowly creeping up the table. It is going to be really difficult to get into the top six and, psychologically, a victory would have been a fantastic boost for us.

“I know the other teams have all got games in hand on us but you are better off having points on the board. That was the biggest frustration because I felt we were good enough to have beaten Hartlepool.

“Once you are in the top six, there is a different pressure to stay there. But it is not about which teams are there in the middle of February, it is about which teams are there after the final league game of the season in May.

“We have still got 16 games to play so there are a lot of points to be played for and a lot of things will happen between now and then. Hartlepool is a difficult place to play and it was a good point. Hopefully, it will turn out to be a valuable one as well.”

Pools boss Neale Cooper said: “It was a very good point because I didn’t think we were at our best. We were up against a very good side in Bournemouth so we knew it would be a difficult game. But we defended very well and had a couple of chances near the end.”

Bradbury confirmed both Steve Cook (bruised ribs) and Shaun MacDonald (ankle) would be as-sessed by physio Steve Hard ahead of tomorrow’s visit of Orient.