Ex-Sunderland youth goalkeeper scores stunning late equaliser for Coventry City

In the clash between two play-off contenders, Rovers looked on course for a decisive win after Sam Gallagher’s bullet header – his eighth of the campaign – put them on course to move fifth and four points above the Sky Blues.

But former Sunderland youth goalkeeper Wilson, up for the final attack of the game, bundled Gustavo Hamer’s corner over the line for the ecstatic visitors, who are one point and two places behind sixth-placed Blackburn after stretching their unbeaten run to four.

Replays suggested the ball went in off Wilson’s hand but Robins disagreed and felt his side deserved a point.

He said: “I’ve just seen it close up. There’s a melee and what it does do, it hits his knee. I’ve seen it hit his knee and go in.

“Why moan? They should have seen the game out. They didn’t. We got a little bit of luck but you make your own don’t you?

“Aled (Williams, goalkeeping coach) said to me do you want him up? And split second, I thought yeah we’ve got to do it because it might just cause a little bit of mayhem and it did.

“Credit to Aled, credit to Ben, being in the position he did. He actually went between the sticks, went in where the striker should be and he’s ended up getting a goal. Funny, that.

“I think we deserved it for the second-half performance. First half, we deserved nothing from it. I didn’t like the first half at all but the second half was a lot better.”

Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson said it was “tough” to concede in the manner they did.

He said: “We are disappointed to draw the game, especially the way we did it, conceding probably the last kick of the game, a situation we should have dealt better with. I don’t want to talk about the goal they scored.”

Stanley-born Wilson, 30, was at Sunderland as a youth between 2006 and 2013.