Rovers were beaten, but not unbowed, after a valiant display at Premier League side Sheffield United.

They went down 2-1, courtesy of two first-half Blades goals, but went close to a late fightback after Sam Gallagher headed in his first goal since his summer move.

In a fractious end to the game, Tony Mowbray was sent off by referee Geoff Eltringham, as the hosts just about hung on as Rovers threw everything at them following the introductions of Gallagher and the impressive Joe Rankin-Costello.

There were plenty of positives, despite exiting at the second round stage, with Badles boss Chris Wilder even accepting: "I don’t know how we’ve won really" post-match.

Adam Armstrong got another chance to lead the line as part of eight changes, having done so at Hull seven days earlier, as Rovers looked to use his pace against the Blades back three.

The game was only four minutes old when he curled narrowly wide from the left edge of the box.

It was from a similar position he played in Bradley Dack who was felled by a clumsy challenge from Richard Stearman and a spot-kick awarded. Armstrong picked up the ball, having scored from the spot in round three of this competition last season, only for  Simon Moore to dive to his left and keep out a well-struck penalty, and Richie Smallwood’s follow-up.

Eight minutes had gone at that point, but that didn’t deter Rovers who were moving the ball about well, finding plenty of space, not least Ryan Nyambe advancing from right back.

The hosts, making 10 changes, looked nervy as Phil Jagielka gave the ball away cheaply to John Buckley who advanced to the edge of the box before firing well wide.

With no target man leading the line, it was patient play from Rovers, their neat interplay was causing plenty of problems, as an injury to Kean Bryan forced the hosts in to a re-think in their formation.

Joe Rothwell was one of the many Rovers players seeing plenty of the ball, and he went close to putting the visitors ahead with a thumping right-foot shot from 20 yards which had Moore well beaten, only to flash just wide.

Then came the sucker punch, 31 minutes in. For Rovers, it was all so avoidable as Richie Smallwood, under no pressure, played the ball out for a corner with an attempted back pass. Jayson Leutwiler then made a hash of Ollie Norwood’s corner which allowed Stearman the easy task of heading in at the far post.

Moore remained the busier of the keepers though, and needed to be quick off his line 60 seconds later to dive at the feet of Armstrong who was put through by an intelligent Dack pass.

If the first goal was a sucker punch then the second felt a killer blow, not least the timing of it. In the third of three additional minutes Ravel Morrison danced in to the box before teeing up Norwood who cut across his shot to find the far corner.

However undeserved the scoreline, and very harsh on Rovers it was, it felt a long way back from 2-0 down.

The theme of the second half continued, with Rovers dominating the ball, but a second Blades formation switch gave them more protection and meant chances were hard to come by for Rovers.

Dack’s night was done after 60 minutes, as Rovers sent on Sam Gallagher in search of a way back in to the tie. Unfortunately for Rovers the game was beginning to drift as all the tempo began to get sucked out of the game.

Joe Rankin-Costello was handed just a second senior appearance before Rovers were handed a lifeline. Armstrong’s cross for the left was hung up perfectly to Gallagher to rise at the back post and power in a header, registering his first for the club since his £5m move from Southampton, with 18 minutes to play.

It was almost a late double show from the substitutes as Rankin-Costello rounded Moore after being played in by Buckley, but off balance, Jagielka did well to block his shot. Corry Evans headed wide moments later from a Buckley cross as the hosts began to get nervy.

The subs combined again in the final minute, as Gallagher teed up Rankin-Costello, only for a swarm of Blades bodies to block his shot.