Blackpool boss Michael Appleton felt his side could have had a couple of penalties in their 1-0 defeat against Rovers.

Dom Thompson and Jerry Yates both had appeals for a spot kick waved away by referee Matt Donohue either side of half-time.

Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men returned to winning ways, with Ben Brereton getting the decisive goal with a clinical finish after latching onto Bradley Dack’s pass after 16 minutes.

When asked if Yates had been fouled in the box, Appleton said: “I think he was, I think it was clear to see.

“It probably wasn’t as blatant as the one in the first half on Dom Thompson. But these things happen, you move on from it.

“That certainly doesn’t stop me expecting us to be much better with the ball.”

Appleton admitted he was disappointed with the defending for Brereton’s goal and felt the game was “an uphill fight” from that point.

He added: “We had plenty of endeavour, plenty of enthusiasm and effort. We lacked quality in the final third tonight, there is no doubt about that.

“I thought we started the game really sharply and then probably the first forward pass opportunity they had in our half ended up being a goal.

“Really poor defending, you can’t concede goals of that manner at this level.

“It becomes an uphill fight and in the second half, we got exposed a little bit but we had to try and get a goal and force the issue a little bit.

The result sees Rovers climb to fifth in the Championship table, having won four of their opening seven matches.

Meanwhile, Blackpool are currently in 15th place after picking up eight points from their initial seven fixtures.

Tomasson’s men are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they welcome Bristol City to Ewood Park (KO 3pm).

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