Tony Mowbray felt the defeat to Norwich City was 'an opportunity missed' for Rovers.

Teemu Pukki settled the game with an 86th minute strike as Rovers were denied a point by another late goal.

Rovers were on top at the start of the second half, but tired late on, with Mowbray having made his three changes before seeing Harrison Reed pick up a hamstring injury.

Reed battled on, but Norwich stole the three points late on to move back to the top of the Championship.

And Mowbray said: “I thought we played pretty well and competed against a team who have gone top of the table.

“We probably had the best chances to win the game.

“We knew that they would have a lot of possession with the way we play, but on the back of that I felt we had the better opportunities.

“It was a tight game, fine margins.

“I could have easily been stood here talking about a 1-0 win or a 0-0 draw.

“We’re frustrated, disappointed, but we move on to the next game.”

He added: “We finished the match with 10 men really as Harrison Reed was struggling.

“But it would have been difficult to bring him off as we had made all of our substitutions, but he was a standing man really.

“Maybe that was the difference, the inability to cover areas of the pitch that we had for 85 minutes.

“They are a very expansive team and it was difficult.

“But I’m frustrated we didn’t take any of our chances and I feel it was an opportunity missed.”

Charlie Mulgrew didn't appear for the second half after feeling unwell, while Corry Evans was forced off on the half hour mark.

Elliott Bennett (foot) and Craig Conway (thigh) are likely to miss the Boxing Day trip to Leeds United, and Mowbray said: “It’s frustrating of course, but that’s why you’ve got a squad of players.

“They have to understand the work ethic required to compete at this level.

“The fine margins went against us.

“We’re in tomorrow, we’ll look at who’s available and go from there.”