On a night of few positives at St. Andrew's, manager Sam Allardyce was once again impressed with the performance of young striker Nikola Kalinić.

The 21-year-old Croatian made his first start in the Barclays Premier League and went close to grabbing his first league goal on numerous occasions.

None more so than in injury time when his goalbound header hit Sebastian Larsson on the line, a chance that would have rescued a point for Rovers.

"I liked him, he's got good movement, he just needs to find the back of the net like every striker," said Allardyce of Kalinić.

"That will help him even more.

"I think he's a good young prospect for us and I was pleased with his performance, I would have just liked him to have got that goal at the end, it was his header that got cleared off the line.

"That would have been great for him and for us."