JOE Nuttall scored twice for Rovers Under-23s and Scott Wharton came through 45 minutes on his injury return in the 2-2 draw at Brighton.

Nuttall took his tally for the season to 13 with his two first-half strikes while Willem Tomlinson was shown a straight red card just before the break.

Central defender Wharton hasn’t featured for either the first-team or development side since July having struggled with two separate ankle injuries but played the opening half before being replaced by Joe Grayson.

The result means Rovers are third in the table with 14 points from their opening seven games.

Brighton named four senior players in their starting line-up, with Tim Krul, Beram Kayal, Jiri Skalak and Sam Baldock all involved in the Premier League 2 Division Two clash.

But it was Rovers who started the better, and Nuttall gave the visitors the lead in the seventh minute as he swept the ball home after Krul failed to deal with a cross in to the box.

Kayal levelled for the hosts at the AMEX Stadium within a minute with a thumping effort from the edge of the box, but Nuttall restored Rovers’ lead within seconds.  Only 10 minutes were on the watch when he raced through on goal before clipping the ball over the advancing Krul.

The striker went close to a hat-trick seven minutes later, only to be denied by Krul, before a flash point just before the break saw Rovers reduced to 10 men when Tomlinson saw red following a late tackle on Skalak.

Baldock then saw an effort cleared off the line but it took only six minutes after the re-start before Albion levelled when James Tilley’s cross-shot found the corner.

Skalak and Baldock both had chances to put the Seagulls in front, though only a good defensive block denied Nuttall from getting his hat-trick just after the hour mark.

The hosts looked to make their numerical advantage count, but Andrew Fisher denied Skalak with a good stop with 10 minutes to play.

Rovers weren’t without their chances though with Joe Rankin-Costello inches away from a late winner when his looping header landed just wide of the post.

Damien Johnson’s side are in action again on Friday when they travel to Newcastle United (7pm).

Rovers: Fisher, C Doyle, Platt, Wharton (Grayson, 46), Travis, Tomlinson, Rankin-Costello, J Doyle, Mols, Wright, Nuttall

Subs not used: Dillon, Thomson, Evans, Mansell