Tony Mowbray was disappointed his side couldn’t take advantage of the nervousness around Elland Road in the closing stages – and also took aim at referee Gavin Ward.

Mowbray felt the first half penalty awarded against Tosin Adarabioyo was ‘soft’ and questioned the standard of officiating in the division after falling to a 2-1 defeat against Leeds United.

Patrick Bamford scored from the spot, before Jack Harrison added a second, but Derrick Williams’ third of the season brought Rovers back in to it just before half time.

That proved to be the end of the scoring in a game that lacked clear-cut chances, with Rovers unable to threaten Kika Casilla’s goal in the second half.

“I think it was an intensive game, as it will always be at Elland Road,” Mowbray said.

“You have to match their legs and their athleticism and I thought we did that particularly well. First half an hour I’m not sure they had a shot.

“And then the referee gives a penalty that, I’ve seen it back a few times on my laptop, it’s soft at best, but never a penalty at worst.

“I think he spoiled the game. The context the penalty was given didn’t fit with the game, there was a lot of physicality, a lot of tackles, energy, players going 100 per cent, and then he gave a soft penalty.

“It’s not the first one, I think there was one at Preston a couple of weeks ago.

“I think officials, you watch the games as well, is the standard really poor, is it dropping in the Championship this year, or is it me?

“It felt as though that game was too much for him. That feels harsh on a young guy making his living as a referee but it felt in the context of the game, a very soft penalty that gave them an opportunity to get in front.

“They are a very good team, and I don’t want to sit here and say we deserved this or we deserved that, because Leeds are a very good team. We spent a lot of time out of possession because they are so good with the ball.

“They didn’t have hundreds of shots and we felt comfortable. When we got it back to 2-1 there felt a nervousness about it.

“You have to feed off that, and the frustration for our team is that ultimately we didn’t have the quality to prey on that nervousness at 2-1.

“The last 20 minutes I thought we could get something from the game but that never materialised.”

Harrison added Leeds’ second five minutes after Bamford’s penalty, but Mowbray was pleased with the way his players fought back to make a game of it having gone 2-0 behind.

He added: “The second goal was a great goal, a long, direct ball forward, taken down, played inside and a good finish.

“It was a great goal. They have good players. It was the first goal that was the irritant for me.

“At 2-0 down at Elland Road you have to be proud of your team that they didn’t cave in, we fought back in to the game and ultimately we made it difficult for them.

“But ultimately it doesn’t matter because we’re sat here with no points.”