Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray felt his side should have had a penalty moments before the opening goal in their 2-0 defeat against Rovers.

Ben Brereton found the top corner with a stunning strike after 32 minutes, giving Anthony Patterson no chance.

Moments earlier, Jack Clarke had gone down under Ryan Hedges’ challenge in the box but referee Craig Pawson waved play on.

Scott Wharton doubled Rovers’ lead early in the second half, heading home after getting on the end of Hedges’ free-kick.

Mowbray told the club’s website: “The TV people have just said to me that the studio suggested maybe their second goal was even offside. Never mind the first goal, 22 seconds earlier it is a penalty for us.

“There is no VAR in the Championship, we have to accept that. Both of those decisions might have been overturned and we might have found ourselves 1-0 up rather than 1-0 down. It is what it is.”

The result sees Rovers climb to the top of the table, having won nine of their 16 games this season, although they have played at least one game more than the sides around them.

“It was a bit reminiscent of some of the games where we haven’t scored. I thought we dominated for long spells,” said Mowbray.

“We probed and probed and didn’t have the killer touch really, nobody could really pull the trigger. We got into some pretty good areas. It is a frustrating night.

He added: “The difference was there today, you see Ben Brereton Diaz bend one in the top corner.

“I mentioned earlier about their stats – they are very low on how many shots they have a game and yet they are very high on how many goals they score, which is basically telling you just about every shot becomes a goal, and that is what it felt like today.

“Brereton Diaz out of nowhere had a shot and it flew in the top corner. We just keep banging on the door and not quite being able to either pull the trigger or find the right moment to score.”