Another day and another reshuffle for Tony Mowbray.

The build up to this meeting with Fulham was dominated by news of another serious injury – Lewis Holtby the latest Rovers player to be sidelined.

Having made a decent impression as Bradley Dack’s understudy, scoring twice in the 5-0 thrashing of Sheffield Wednesday last month, the German was hit by the latest knee injury to strike at Ewood Park this season.

Once again Mowbray was left to move things around in a bid to try and stretch a four-game unbeaten run to five.

In truth here they never looked like getting over the line for maximum points as they tasted defeat on home soil for the first time since September.

A bore draw looked on the cards for long periods in an imminently forgettable game but once Aleksandar Mitrovic put the visitors in front you sensed there was only one outcome.

Sam Gallagher did test Marek Rodak late on but that effort was, on paper at least, to be Rovers’ only shot on target on a day where the new-look frontline failed to fire.

There was a second but after taking Lewis Travis’ through ball and firing home Darragh Lenihan was adjudged to be offside.

On second inspection the call was wrong, by some distance, leaving Mowbray questioning an “embarrassing” decision that ultimately cost his side a point.

It would have been one welcomed with open arms on a day where neither side in truth deserved all three.

Rovers brought in Bradley Johnson for Holtby meaning Stewart Downing moved out to the left wing and Joe Rankin-Costello, on a first competitive start at Ewood Park, moved into the No.10 role.

With Adam Armstrong working through the middle and Sam Gallagher from the right the ingredients were there, but it just didn’t happen in the final third.

Too often Rovers went from back to front, especially in the first half, with Armstrong an isolated figure from the off having produced two goals and four assists in his previous five outings.

Gallagher frustrated, showing promise at times only to look a yard off the pace in the next attack. Two openings for him book-ended the game somewhat though, the striker also going close with an early header.

Downing was in and out of things rather than controlling proceedings as he can do centrally while Rankin-Costello’s effort and enthusiasm could not be quesitoned.

The academy product looked every one of his 20 years though on a day where nothing quite clicked for him and physically he found it tough going.

Danny Graham and Dominic Samuel – the latter for a first appearance since October – both emerged off the bench with 20 minutes to play and with four forwards on the field Rovers did muster Gallagher’s shot and Lenihan’s disallowed strike.

But the challenge for Mowbray now is to piece something together than can get his side going at the sharp end of the field after also mustering just the two shots on target in the draw at Middlesbrough seven days earlier.

The lack of creative spark that a Dack or a Holtby brings to the party was clear to see here.

At the other end it was a good day for Christian Walton. He made a string of saves, some routine and others less so, to ensure that the hosts had a fighting chance entering the closing stages.

The Brighton loanee could do nothing about the clinical Mitrovic’s finish, his 20th of the season already, but Tosin Adarabioyo might look back and think he could have done a little more to prevent the prolific Serb from firing his side in front after taking Joe Bryan’s pass.

The Manchester City man was not at his assured best, a little too casual in possession at times, and it was his defensive partner that so nearly grabbed the headlines.

Travis’ ball came through a crowd of players and with an instinct that his attacking team-mates had not shown all afternoon, Lenihan took a touch and sent a tidy finish beyond Rodak.

Mowbray’s only explanation for the flag was that the officials thought someone had got a touch on the way through. They had not and the hosts were denied, much to the dismay of their skipper.

It leaves the boss plotting how to get back to winning ways against Hull knowing that with six points to the play-offs and the games coming at a fair rate, finding another solution in the final third sooner rather than later is imperative if Rovers are going to have something to play for in the closing weeks of the season.