MATCH ANALYSIS & VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: Huddersfield Town 1 Blackburn Rovers 1

He had already been forced to make his first substitution of the match after Jordan Rhodes was victim of a crude late lunge.

And, with the officials offering little protection in the face of a physical Terriers team, there was always a chance that another Rovers player would join Rhodes on the sidelines.

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But Bowyer, facing a third straight defeat in the space of a week, brought on Nathan Delfouneso and Hope Akpan and switched to a more familiar 4-4-2 formation.

Within 60 seconds, his risk had paid off.

The hitherto inconspicuous Ben Marshall picked the ball up on the right and floated an inch-perfect pass toward Rhodes’ replacement Fode Koita.

Koita, with another eye-catching appearance off the bench under his belt, is fast becoming something of a cult hero.

But Delfouneso will not be far behind him in the popularity stakes if he can keep up his current scoring rate.

It was Delfouneso who latched on to Koita’s clever knockdown and clinically volleyed the ball past Joe Murphy with his very first touch.

It was his second goal in as many games, it earned Rovers their first point of the Championship season, and it went a little way to erasing the memories of their inglorious Capital One Cup exit.

Bowyer, while let down by the side he selected, was criticised for his decision to make nine changes for the loss to Shrewsbury Town.

His decisive double change here, however, helped change the match.

And, make no mistake, it was needed after a distinctly below-bar first-half performance.

Rovers trailed at the break, to Nahki Wells’ 10th-minute opener, and deservedly so.

And, had they been facing a better team than Huddersfield, then the second-half fightback they produced after the arrival of Koita, Delfouneso and Akpan could well have been beyond them.

Yes Rovers may have twice gone close to equalising before the opening period was out but they did not threaten anywhere near enough.

With Marshall dropping back to pick up possession of the ball, into areas where the deep-lying Danny Guthrie and Jason Lowe were operating, too often Rhodes was left an isolated and frustrated figure up front on his own.

If Rovers are going to persist with their new-look 4-2-3-1 formation then they are going to need time.

And, in that respect, nothing has changed from the opening-day reverse to Wolves.

This is a new set of players trying to find new ways of playing following the departure of talismanic targetman Rudy Gestede.

But what that self-inflicted defeat to Shrewsbury has done is take away some of that time.

It snapped away at the patience of supporters who have now seen weakened Rovers sides crash out of the competition to League One opposition for three years running.

And, although it was a very different and stronger set of players who took to the field here, there was always a danger of a hangover.

The Terriers also came into the game on the back of a Capital One Cup humbling and a first-match league loss.

But, without ever being great, they were the superior team in the first 45 minutes.

Rovers, and full debutant Modou Barrow in particular, started on the front foot, just as they had done against Wolves.

But the first time they were put under the cosh, they cracked.

After two corners were not cleared, Sean Scannell was given time and space to flash over a cross to Ishmael Miller.

Miller’s snap-shot was superbly saved by David Raya but Wells was there to smash in the rebound.

At that stage Rovers’ defence, which clearly still needs to work on their lines of communication with the confident Raya, was at sixes and sevens.

But, while they did improve, there was little to cheer at the other end, apart from a Craig Conway effort that skimmed the post and a Rhodes shot that the quick-thinking Murphy saved smartly.

Rhodes’ return to the John Smith’s Stadium – usually such a happy hunting ground – got worse seven seconds into the second half when Dean Whitehead’s poor challenge left him unable to continue.

Koita was called from the bench but it was only after Bowyer made his last rolls of the dice that Rovers’ fortunes changed.

Roared on by a 1,125-strong travelling support, and buoyed by Delfouneso’s well-taken equaliser, they surged forward.

But, despite throwing countless balls into the box, Rovers could not find a winner.

Instead it was Huddersfield who went closest to settling the hard-fought Roses contest when Jacob Butterfield and Scannell forced David Raya into a double save.

After that neither goal was seriously troubled, and in the final 10 minutes both teams seemed to settle for the point that gives them something to build on.