Tony Mowbray said the first-half change was one he had to make with Rovers under the pump at Derby County.

That saw Danny Graham replace Craig Conway just after the half hour mark, with Rovers going on to battle their way to a 0-0 draw.

Derby were well on top for much of the first half, but Mowbray tinkered with his tactics as Rovers dropped deeper in a bid to restrict the free-flowing Rams.

“We had to change otherwise they were going to score,” Mowbray said of his 32nd minute tactical switch.

“It was like the Alamo really and that was great credit to them and the way they were set-up.

“We needed a platform to play off and we couldn’t get the ball to Bradley (Dack) to slide Adam (Armstrong) in and try and get in behind them.

“We couldn’t do that because of their intensity and had to play over the top a bit more to Danny Graham and that gave us a bit of respite.

“I said to Craig that I know it’s tough to get substituted before half-time but the team is more important than any individual and that’s how it has to be.

“Whether we had hung on and got a point had we not made the change we’ll never know, but I can do what’s right and I always tell them it’s about the team.

“The positives are that we played Derby County and Aston Villa away and are unbeaten. They are two teams that stand a great chance of being in the top six this year.

“Let’s take the positives, not be too concerned. We didn’t get beat and we will move on to the next one.”

Mowbray was disappointed with his side’s use of the ball throughout the Pride Park clash, but praised their resilience and spirit to hold out for a fifth draw of the season.

He added: “I’m happy to take a point but I think it was an eye opener of the top quality teams in this league.

“We tried to do what we’re good at but they managed to play around us in the first half.

“Sometimes we have played against this team have gone over the top but these continued to try and play through.

“Second half we managed it better, dropping away seeing if they could play through us from a deeper position.

“It’s the Championship, Derby have huge intention of trying to finish in the top six of the division. They have spent a lot of money, as they have done for a number of years, and we felt their quality.

“Yet the spirit is something we’ve talked about and that was there, the blocking of things in the first half and the energy and desire in the second half to protect our goal was evident for everyone to see.

“That wasn’t the football I want to play but sometimes you have to dig in and we did that.”

Mowbray felt it was important Rovers got in to the break level so he could tinker with his tactics further.

Mason Mount hit the crossbar with a free-kick while Richie Smallwood made one excellent block to deny Bradley Johnson, but they limited the chances thereafter.

“We played deeper in the second half because we tried to press high in the first half and they played around us and through us,” Mowbray said.

“What we did at half-time was dropped deeper and let their centre halves have it and asked if they could break through. It kept our team more compact and helped us win the ball back better and on transition we almost scored second half.

“Second half we had to change what we were doing otherwise we would have been beaten I’m sure.”