Tony Mowbray felt Rovers were denied victory by a ‘soft penalty’ and felt his side did enough to record all three points against Nottingham Forest at Ewood Park.

Joe Lolley won a 79th minute penalty for Forest, after going down under the challenge of Jack Rodwell, as referee Andy Madley gave the visitors a second penalty of the match.

Lewis Grabban, who blazed a first half effort over the bar, found the corner with a second effort to tie up the scores.

Grabban handed his men a second half lead before Rovers roared back courtesy of goals from Bradley Dack and Adam Armstrong.

And after drawing for a sixth time this season, Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph: “A huge frustration really, we all feel really hard done by with the penalty decision.

“Let’s be honest, the referee had a really difficult game right from the start. He bamboozled both benches, both sets of fans with some of his decisions.

“We have to live by it.

“It was a really, really soft penalty and if that’s a penalty then why isn’t Dack’s a penalty when he’s manhandled to the ground?

“These are the days when I believe referees should be accountable and come out and answer questions and tell us honestly what they saw.

“I’m assuming he thought one was a penalty and one wasn’t.

“I’ve watched it back and the one he gives there are five players within direct line of him and the ball so how we saw it and gave it I will never know.

“Frustration, disappointed, I thought we did enough.

“Their first goal was a great goal, breaking away against our press, one-touch getting wide and it was a great goal.

“They are a good team but I thought we more than matched them.

“How we weren’t infront at half time is a mystery to us all really, the chances we had and the effort we put in was there to see.

“The team is disappointed and frustrated yet we have to see positives as with the negotiations we had with Forest over Brereton their only ambition is to get promotion this year and hopefully finish in the top two.

“To compete how we did today and be disappointed not to win tells us we’re on the right road.”

The penalty came at a time when Rovers were well on top in the game and looking to push on for what would have been a fourth win of the season.

“We were going for the jugular. It was a frustration,” Mowbray said of the equaliser.  

“I won’t watch it anymore, I’ve watched it four or five times and I can’t see a contact and the boy goes over. It’s a very delayed reaction, the referee has five bodies right in his eyeline and he points to the spot.

“We have to accept it, the score is 2-2 and we have to move on to the next game, Sheffield United on Wednesday and know we can match all of these teams.

“If we play at the levels we can we can give everyone a good game.”