Jon Dahl Tomasson felt Rovers needed players to go ‘behind the pressure’ of Hull City as he explained the change in approach from the previous game.

There was a change in personnel from the 2-2 draw at Huddersfield Town as Sam Gallagher replaced Adam Wharton in a move that saw Rovers revert back to a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Gallagher operated from the right, which saw Joe Rankin-Costello play much wider than the roaming role he was afforded against Huddersfield.

Wharton dropped out as Rovers switched back to their more usual two-man midfield and Sam Szmodics moving inside.

Gallagher had started Rovers’ previous eight league games before dropping out against Huddersfield having not been 100 per cent fit.

He was back in the side against Hull, but not as a central striker, with Tyrhys Dolan continuing in that role.

Rovers did have opportunities with balls over the top in the early stages, with Lewis Travis and Gallagher not making the most of early openings.

And Tomasson explained: “I think there was an opportunity to find players behind the pressure.

“We should have done that much better and then to play through lines which we did a lot of times.

“That was the reason to change it from what we did the other day.

“Sometimes we played the ball way too much backwards or sidewards and not playing quick enough.

“Even with that we created moments that we could have scored goals.”

Midfielder Wharton hadn’t started since November 1 before getting his opportunity at the John Smith’s Stadium where he played the full 90 minutes. However, he wasn’t used off the bench until the closing stages against Hull City.

Asked if that was because he sees Wharton as more suited to a three-man midfield than a central midfield pairing, Tomasson responded: “Of course on the ball Adam has the quality and off the ball he needs to learn a lot.”

Tomasson first turned to his bench with 18 minutes remaining, with top scorer Ben Brereton and Dolan, who had Rovers’ best chance of the match, replaced by Sorba Thomas and Ryan Hedges.

Brereton wasn’t moving freely at times during the game, and also limped through the closing stages at Huddersfield having sustained a knock to his ankle.

Tomasson declared he was fully fit ahead of the game, but afterwards acknowledged that he will monitor the whole squad ahead of the return to action against Coventry City on Wednesday night.

That will include a check on Brereton, as well as Gallagher and Harry Pickering.

“We need to look at each player in this situation and need to use the squad as well,” Tomasson added.

“That’s also why we need to have good conversations in the next couple of days who will be ready to start.

“I think Ben has scored a lot of goals for us this season and he could have had a couple of goals (against Hull) as well if we had done some of the right choices.

“He will do his best for Rovers, he’s a great lad.”

Most disappointing for Rovers was their start to the second half as the visitors twice went close to taking the lead through Regan Slater and Allayhar Sayyadmanesh.

It wasn’t until the final quarter that Rovers really tried to force the issue after a sloppy opening, only to be let down by their decision-making in the final third.

“We played a good side we shouldn’t forget that. They have been doing well, especially away,” Tomasson said.

“I agree that the start of the second half but after that I think we changed it again, that’s my opinion, and we played forward, had good runs but still lacking the decision-making in the end.”