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Billy Sharp's late equaliser denied Barry Ferguson a first win in caretaker charge of Blackpool as they shared the points at home to Doncaster Rovers.

Andy Halliday looked to have given the home side victory when he prodded home from close range on his debut.

But substitute striker Sharp, on-loan from Southampton and in his third spell with Rovers, headed home David Cotterill's free-kick.

The draw lifts Doncaster out of the Championship's relegation zone.

Ferguson, 35, has been in temporary control at Bloomfield Road following Paul Ince's dismissal on Tuesday and he saw his side start brightly as they looked to stem a run of nine defeats from their last 10 games.

A lofted pass from Isaiah Osbourne set Michael Chopra free in behind the visitors' defence but the striker could only fire straight at the advancing Ross Turnbull.

With the next attack the hosts carved out another good opening. Steven Davies sent a delivery across the face of the goal from the left, only for Chopra to somehow miss the ball six yards out.

The visitors were largely redundant in an attacking sense, but on the stroke of half-time another James Coppinger delivery from the right found Sharp and his header flew narrowly wide of the right-hand post.

There was still time for one final moment of goalmouth action and unsurprisingly it again went the way of the home side. Chris Basham rose highest to meet Nathan Eccleston's corner-kick at the near post but the midfielder could only head wide when he should have instead found the back of the net.

Slowly, Doncaster began to turn the tide and Coppinger forced Matt Gilks into making two decent saves - the first a low shot from the edge of the box after 63 minutes and the second a curling 20-yard effort the Blackpool keeper clawed away from the top right-hand corner.

Paul Dickov's side should have taken the lead when a lofted Paul Keegan pass found Chris Brown inside the area, only for the striker to blaze over the bar.

But just as the visitors looked to have taken control, a hopeful ball into the box by Jack Robinson ended up at the feet of Davies, and although he could not connect with his shot, substitute Halliday, on loan from Middlesbrough, prodded home from close range to give Blackpool the lead.

Ferguson's side looked to have snatched victory but, with the clock ticking down, Sharp got the faintest of touches on a Cotterill free-kick to give Doncaster a share of the spoils.

Blackpool caretaker manager Barry Ferguson on his first match in charge:

"I loved every minute of it - you could see that on the sidelines. I'm just gutted for the boys because they gave me absolutely everything out there.

"I was nervous when I woke up. It was a mixture of emotions - I was nervous and excited.

"I've decided that if I take over [permanently] then I'll hang up my boots, it wasn't difficult not to pick myself today."

Doncaster Rovers manager Paul Dickov:

"It looks as though he [Billy Sharp] nicked it and that's what he's been brought here for.

"We played better and created more chances when we played Blackburn up here a few weeks ago and they beat us 1-0.

"But we've got a fox-in-the-box striker who can score you goals and today he's managed to nick us a point.

"I feel given the quality of our delivery and the size of the team we should score more goals from set-pieces and we managed to do that today."