Tony Mowbray felt Rovers failed to find their fluency after a bright start of Huddersfield Town as they suffered defeat for the first time in nine games.

Danny Graham put Rovers ahead in the seventh minute, heading home a Lewis Travis cross, as Rovers struck early once again on the road.

Jon Goran Stankovic headed home the leveller in the 25th minute before Steve Mounie lashed home the winner in the final quarter as Huddersfield came from behind to claim all three points.

But it was the nature of Stankovic’s goal, heading in a wide Juninho Bacuna free kick, that disappointed Mowbray, particularly given the height in the Rovers starting XI which showed five changes and saw Tosin Adarabioyo and Graham among those to come back in.

“I think for 20 minutes we controlled the game. We scored a goal, could have scored another,” Mowbray said after the defeat at the John Smith’s Stadium.

“They then changed the formation, played with two strikers, went a bit more direct, back to front.

“That made it a scrappier game. We knew they were a physical side before we came here, some powerful players, but they go the crowd wrapped up in the game.

“I was really disappointed with the first goal. With the team we had out there Graham, Johnson, Gallagher, Lenihan, Adarabioyo, we shouldn’t be losing a goal like that.

“It was a frustrating day for us. The game became very scrappy, a lack of quality, the crowd got involved in the game.

“You have to give the boy credit for whipping it in to the top corner but we’re left frustrated on a day where we never got our fluency after the first 20 minutes.”

Mounie’s winner came from Rovers giving the ball away, Elliott Bennett putting Stewart Downing under pressure with a square pass that was intercepted by Lewis O’Brien.

The defeat saw Rovers drop to the 12th in the table at the end of 2019 ahead of a New Year’s Day trip to Nottingham Forest to start the next calendar year.

“Really poor goals,” the boss added.

“It’s difficult for me to sit here and be overly critical of them because that was the first defeat in nine games.

“With the aspiration we’ve got we should be looking to come here and win.

“They turned it in to a type of game that became a 50-50 game, and came out on the wrong side of it.”