We’ve seen four substitutions in one go on several occasions, but never before five.

That became reality 12 minutes from time at the Cardiff City Stadium, as needing to find a second equaliser, Tony Mowbray used all five substitutes in one go.

It was quite the sight, reminiscent more of a pre-season friendly, as Mowbray readied all five players, replacing all three midfielders, and two of his attackers, the one player remaining being Adam Armstrong who came up with the goal to earn Rovers a share of the spoils.

That came from a Lewis Holtby pass, one of the five replacements, with Jacob Davenport, Stewart Downing, Ben Brereton and Tyrhys Dolan also sent on.

Mowbray said the decision wasn’t owing to the performance of any of the five players replaced, indeed keeping them on until the 78th minute showed he was happy with the second half display, and with good reason, Rovers denied by the woodwork on three separate occasions.

Instead, having gone 2-1 behind and in need of a second goal, Mowbray said the decision was to add a freshness to the side in the closing stages.

He explained: “I wanted to increase the energy, we were on top, I just needed to increase the energy in midfield.

“They were playing long to Kieffer Moore and we needed some energy when we won the ball back to try and find us a goal.

“It wasn’t down to bad performances why they were coming off, not because they were having a poor game, just to give the team some more energy and I think all the substitutes impacted the game pretty well.

“The dressing room is disappointed that we didn’t win the game, that’s all.”

Meanwhile, Joe Rothwell missed out against Cardiff with the knee injury that forced him off midway through the first half against Bournemouth. He had trained in the lead up to the game, but wasn’t deemed fit enough to travel.

Lewis Travis returned to the starting line-up after missing the last four matches, while Amari’i Bell was another to come back into the squad.

That meant John Buckley was the unlucky man to miss out, the midfielder having travelled with the squad, but not making the bench, taking part in fitness work ahead of the game.

It was the first time the midfielder hasn’t been included in a Championship matchday squad this season, Mowbray revealing that was owing to the midfield options available to him.

With Jacob Davenport back fit, there was no place on the bench either for Corry Evans as Rovers start to get more players back available.

Rothwell is expected to be back fit for the visit of Derby County, but Joe Rankin-Costello will miss the rest of the season with a broken metatarsal, adding his name to an injury list that also includes Daniel Ayala, Scott Wharton and Bradley Dack.