Middlesbrough 1 Blackburn Rovers 1

JORDAN RHODES might have made his Middlesbrough debut in this afternoon’s 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers – but it was another of the Teessiders’ strikers who struck a late equaliser to earn Aitor Karanka’s side a point.

David Nugent has been something of a forgotten man ever since Rhodes completed a £9m move from Blackburn on deadline day, but he headed home in the 79th minute to ensure Boro would claim a point despite a largely disappointing display.

The Northern Echo:

Nugent’s equaliser cancelled out a second-half opener from Blackburn’s Sunderland loanee Jordi Gomez, and at least partially stopped the rot after last month’s defeats to Bristol City and Nottingham Forest.

However, with Burnley beating Hull City, the gap to the play-off places has been reduced to just one point ahead of Tuesday’s trip to MK Dons.

The pre-match build up had been dominated by talk of Rhodes following the striker’s deadline-day move from Blackburn, but the Scotsman found himself on the bench as he came up against his former club.

There were two debutants, however, with Ritchie De Laet deputising for the injured George Friend and left-back and Kike Sola named in the ‘number ten’ role, with both Gaston Ramirez and Cristhian Stuani on the bench.

Kike Sola joined on loan from Athletic Bilbao at the start of last month, but the Spaniard was unable to make any kind of impression during a thoroughly forgettable debut.

He barely touched the ball in the first half, and was duly replaced by Stuani at half-time, although he was hardly the only player in the home side’s ranks to underperform.

Boro were soporific before the break, with their pedestrian, one-paced attacking failing to trouble the Blackburn defence.

Former Boro goalkeeper Jason Steele did not have to make a single save in the opening 45 minutes, with the home side’s only attempt on goal failing to find the target as Grant Leadbitter flashed a 32nd-minute drive well wide.

Blackburn went into the game on the back of a run of seven Championship games without a victory, but the visitors were the better side before the break, even if they too looked unlikely scorers.

They had the ball in the net in the 17th minute, but defender Elliott Ward was rightly flagged offside as he turned home a free-kick from Gomez.

Rovers went close again three minutes later, with a misjudgement from Daniel Ayala enabling Tony Watt to latch onto Tommy Spurr’s through ball, only for the striker to prod a low shot past the far post.

Ayala has been one of Boro’s key performers all season, but the Spaniard injured himself as he challenged for a corner in the Blackburn box and was replaced by Tomas Kalas shortly before half-time.

Stuani’s arrival for the start of the second half was clearly an attempt to inject some energy and invention into the Teessiders’ play, but the Uruguayan’s impact was negated by the lack of cohesion amongst those around him.

Boro finally carved out a decent chance two minutes after the hour mark, but it came to nothing when Ben Gibson blazed over at the far post after Stewart Downing’s corner dropped invitingly into his path.

Gibson was involved at the other end moments later, throwing himself in the way of Darragh Lenihan’s drive to deflect the ball wide.

Boro’s best chance came 19 minutes before the end, but while Stuani beat his marker in the box to meet Downing’s right-wing cross, he could only head the ball over the crossbar.

The miss proved a costly one as, a minute or so later, Blackburn claimed the lead. Lenihan laid the ball off to Gomez, who was making his Rovers debut after moving on loan from Sunderland, and the midfielder drilled a crisp low finish into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

Karanka’s response to the concession was to throw on Rhodes for his debut, but the Scotland international found himself with just 13 minutes in which to transform the game.

In fact, it only took two for Boro to equalise, although it was Nugent rather than Rhodes who was celebrating.

Emilio Nsue swung over a cross from the right, and having eluded his marker at the back post, Nugent deftly headed home from inside the six-yard box.

Boro pushed for a winner, and Rhodes fired in a stoppage-time effort that was saved by Steele, but the best late opportunity fell to Blackburn with one minute left.

The Boro backline failed to adequately deal with a corner, but despite appearing to have the goal at his mercy, Hope Akpan dragged a 12-yard shot wide of the target.

Middlesbrough (4-2-3-1): Konstantopoulos: Nsue, Gibson, Ayala (Kalas 45), de Laet; Leadbitter, Clayton; Adomah (Rhodes 77), Kike Sola (Stuani 46), Downing; Nugent.

Subs (not used): Mejias (gk), Forshaw, de Sart, Ramirez.

Blackburn (4-3-1-2): Steele; Marshall, Ward, Hanley, Spurr; Evans, Lenihan, Akpan; Gomez (Bennett 83); Watt (Jackson 73), Graham.

Subs (not used): Raya (gk), Kilgallon, Taylor, Duffy, Conway.