KEITH Curle felt his side took a step in the right direction with a first clean sheet of the season and first point at home.

A goalless draw to Hartlepool United, who had lost all their previous away games following promotion back to the Football League, was not enough to prise Latics off the bottom of League Two.

But head coach Curle believes it will contribute to encouraging belief back into the side as they bid to turn their season around.

The game was overshadowed by pre-match protests, which were conducted vocally but peacefully outside of the stadium in the hour before kick-off at Boundary Park. A plane also flew overhead carrying the banner "AL & MO TIME TO GO! #SAVEOAFC" soon after kick-off.

But, on the pitch, Latics showed the steel that had been lacking in shipping seven goals in back-to-back defeats against Barrow and Leyton Orient to earn their first shut-out of the campaign.

And Curle hopes it will be a building block going forward.

"It's a point. The first step of any journey can be a small one but it's got to be in the right direction and today I think we took a step in the right direction," he said.

"On the balance of play I think you could say we had some good chances, but I understand there's a nervousness, there's a belief of scoring goals, but the only way you do it is to keep working hard, keep getting in the right places and things will turn."

Hallam Hope had two shots blocked early in the second half, Mark Shelton headed against a post for Hartlepool before the break, but Latics ended the game strongly.

"Credit to them (Hartlepool) they defended their goal well and had two goalbound clearances," Curle continued.

"Some of our finishing was a little bit hesitant in terms of not getting your shot off when you're expecting to, but I understand it. I understand the situation and I understand the emotions that the players are going through as well, and we're trying to turn the negativity surrounding the football club with the off-field antics, and trying to energise the players within that and not have that fear factor."

But the head coach was pleased with the clean sheet.

"It's important that we show that we've got a backbone," he said.

"Today was a challenge because when you've conceded a couple of goals it's very important to get that first clean sheet. We conceded three and four against Barrow and Leyton Orient.

"We had a few players coming back and I think Alan Sheehan was a steadying influence, organising people around him and getting them in the right places. But I know there's more to come from the team because we've got players that are on the fringes of coming back that can have a big impact."