Derby County were unable to make their chances count on Tuesday night as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

In a largely balanced contest in Lancashire, only a penalty conversion in the second half from Craig Conway separated the two battling sides as Tony Mowbray claimed a precious victory in his first match in charge of Rovers on home soil.

The hosts were indebted to the crossbar right at the death, though, to ensure that was the case as Bradley Johnson rose to direct a cross towards goal, but it took a nick off the woodwork as the Rams’ winless run was stretched to seven games in all competitions.

On a wet night in Lancashire, significant goalscoring action in this Sky Bet Championship contest took a while to arrive.

Within the first few minutes, the hosts were finding a lot of joy down the right side, with Liam Feeney quickly establishing himself as a threat, but he was unable to pick out a man in a blue and white shirt with two of his early crossing opportunities.

Derby’s first opening of the game arrived on exactly 10 minutes after David Nugent, making his first start since joining from Middlesbrough, laid the ball on a plate for Tom Ince, who was waiting eagerly on the edge of the box, but he sliced his first time shot just wide of Jason Steele’s right post.

Fifteen minutes passed before anything else of note happened and it was Ince again who was knocking on the door – taking on a shot from 30 yards out in the hope to catch Steele off-guard.

Despite Derby’s couple of chances, the fixture still looked very much balanced and on 27 minutes it was Rovers’ turn to try and take the lead.

A courageous turn of pace from Marvin Emnes saw him weave his way through the visitors’ defence, creating enough space to toe-poke an effort at goal, but Scott Carson got his positioning spot on to get himself behind the shot to catch the ball with ease.

It was clear from the start that Blackburn were looking to frustrate the Rams with their rigid shape, but as half-time fast approached, they went on to enjoy their strongest spell.

They had two golden opportunities to edge in front during this period too. Sam Gallagher was first up as he found a pocket of space on the left and after his shot forced Carson into a spectacular save, Emnes blasted the rebound well over the crossbar.

Next, it was Charlie Mulgrew’s turn and his chance came from a set-piece on the right, but again fine positioning from Carson saw him well placed to push the bending free-kick round his near post and out for a corner.

The Rams went into the break on level terms and returned for the second half on the front foot, showing neat interchanges in midfield, but were unable to find the killer pass to break down a stubborn Blackburn backline.

With the game finely poised, the defining moment of this meeting came on 57 minutes when a tackle from Alex Pearce, from behind, saw him bring down Gallagher in the box, leaving Darren Bond, the referee, no choice but to point straight to the penalty spot.

Conway stepped up confidently for Rovers and converted the chance from 12-yards comfortably down the middle, blasting the ball into the roof of the net to score his fourth goal of the season.

After falling behind, both Matěj Vydra and Abdoul Camara were brought on by Steve McClaren in an attempt to add more bite to the Derby attack, but unfortunately it was to no avail as Blackburn continued to hit Derby on the counter.

Ince had two chances, whilst Nugent and Johnson were thwarted by crucial blocks inside the area. It was clear luck was not on Derby’s side and was typified by Johnson’s header in the early stages of injury time, which bounced off the crossbar and out of play as Blackburn claimed a huge three points in their quest to retain their Championship status.

Blackburn Rovers: Steele, Williams, Lowe (C), Feeney (Bennett, 69), Mulgrew, Emnes (Mahoney, 70), Gallagher, Guthrie (Tomlinson, 87), Nyambe, Lenihan, Conway

Substitutes not used: Raya, Graham, Joao, Brown

Derby County: Carson, Christie, Baird, Pearce, Lowe (Anya, 86), De Sart, Hughes (Camara, 64), Johnson, Ince, Nugent, Russell (Vydra, 64)

Substitutes not used: Mitchell, Bryson, Butterfield, Olsson

Attendance: 10,536 (518 away supporters)