PAUL Lambert could not hide his disappointment after Blackburn Rovers had to settle for a 1-1 draw at new joint leaders Middlesbrough yesterday.

Rovers were heading for their first league victory in eight matches when debutant Jordi Gomez fired them into a deserved 72nd-minute lead.

It was only the fourth goal Middlesbrough had conceded at home in the current Championship campaign.

However it was one they cancelled out just seven minutes later when Emilio Nsue was allowed to cross for David Nugent to score.

But in a frantic finish Rovers had the chance to become only the third team to leave the Riverside Stadium with maximum points this season.

Hope Akpan, however, dragged his shot wide after a Ben Marshall free kick broke to him 12 yards from goal.

Asked if he was pleased with a point, Rovers boss Lambert, who operated a new-look diamond midfield system, said: “No, not really, I’m disappointed because we should have won the game.

“We should have been three or four up before anything so I’m disappointed not to have won the game because I thought we came here and dominated.

Lancashire Telegraph:

“I thought we were outstanding from start to finish. I thought the system threw Middlesbrough a little bit and Gomez was getting a lot of joy.

“We had some big performances and we should have been at least a couple up at half-time.

“But we caused them problems throughout the whole game. I’m just disappointed not to see it through.”

Asked for his verdict on Middlesbrough’s equaliser, Lambert said: “We never stopped the cross and that was the first time in the game we never stopped it. That’s disappointing.”

Rovers carved out a number of chances in either half with the best coming in the 89th minute through Akpan.

And Lambert said: “He’s got to hit the target. If that’s on target, that’s a goal, and I don’t think anyone in the stadium would have begrudged us that.”

Lancashire Telegraph:

But Lambert could take solace in the fact that Rovers, who are now unbeaten in four matches in all competitions, opened up the league’s most miserly defence on a number of occasions.

He said: “We changed the system a bit and some of the football was excellent.

“I came here a few weeks ago to watch them play and they are a really good side, with the money they’ve spent and the players they’ve got.

“But our own team I thought were excellent.”

Boro boss Aitor Karanka admitted his expensively assembled side, who have now gone three games without a win, did not get going until late on.

“It was a game we could have won and one we could have lost but we are joint top and we have one less game to play,” said Karanka, who brought Jordan Rhodes on for his debut against the club he left five days earlier moments before Nugent struck.

“The main thing for me was the last 20 minutes. It wasn’t about the players, shape or system, it was about the intensity I like to play. They (Rovers) seemed to play at a higher intensity than us up to that point.

“The game changed because they scored and started to defend, we then had more chances to attack.”