Game management cost West Brom two points – Carlos Corberan

Rovers attacker Ben Brereton Diaz struck a free-kick from the edge of the D that Baggies debutant Josh Griffiths should have kept out after a loose pass from Jayson Molumby, who earlier in the second half looked to have headed the hosts' winner.

It would have been a seventh home league win on the spin without conceding for Corberan's side – a club record. The equaliser was a first Hawthorns goal conceded in more than 13 hours of action.

Corberan's side looked set to climb from 10th to sixth with three points but were made to remain where they started the evening after their play-off rivals struck back.

The head coach was otherwise pleased with an 'excellent' management of a tight contest in the second half, but admitted one poor action had cost his side two points.

He said: "It's clear that we lost two points and only won one. We were very close – after we scored the first goal we were closer to the second than they were to their first.

"Only one action of bad game management would cost us a goal – it was exactly this.

"It's truly frustrating, we had to manage this action a different way. I think the game management until the last minute was excellent.

"Excellent, because every moment the team was deep, the team kept insisting to go. We were looking for the second goal, and this is what I want to see from my team. We did it like this."

Corberan made the big call to hand Griffiths, 21, his Baggies bow for the under-fire David Button, who was dropped after high-profile errors.

Griffiths, the former Cheltenham, Lincoln and Portsmouth loanee, fared well with some good early stops and came so close to a debut clean sheet but could not keep out Brereton Diaz's fierce late free-kick, despite getting a good hand to the strike, which was on his side of the goal.

"It was firstly important to talk with David because it's true that his value as a person and as a goalkeeper is high," Corberan said on his decision to opt for Griffiths.

"It's true that this season has not gone like he'd have wanted it to go. It's been a difficult season for him because he knows he hasn't performed at the level that he has to as a keeper.

"So that's why we decided to give the step to Josh, that's why we brought him in to be another option. That's why I thought he'd be ready to manage this game and the next ones.

"This is what I'll do – keep working with David in the back as he was doing, keep developing Griffiths as we were doing, and in the end increase the possibilities of options.

"Sometimes with a keeper it's normal to rotate, but watch the game of Burnley yesterday – they made the decision to change the keeper.

"He's still a football player, we evaluate them, we see who is performing well and make the decision that allows someone to play. They now must keep working – David must show me I was wrong, and Griffiths must show me I was right in the decision I made."