Andrew Wright partnered Ian Morris in centre midfield, with Garry Thompson on the right wing and Kevan Hurst on the left. Ben May and Paul Hayes were preferred upfront.
The Iron started the game well, with Paul Hayes forcing a save out of veteran Neil Sullivan. From the resulting corner kick, Ian Morris headed in Kevan Hurst's delivery to give United the lead.
Soon after the restart of play, Hurst delivered another fizzing cross into the box, but it evaded all Iron heads.
Midway through the first period, the home side started to pile on some pressure, with James Hayter heading straight into the arms of the Iron keeper Joe Murphy and Brian Stock volleying over from just outside the 18-yard box.
The United striker Ben May saw his low effort saved well by Sullivan just before the break.
Adkins made four changes at the break, bringing on Josh Lillis, Matt Sparrow, Jonathan Forte and Gary Hooper for Murphy, Wright, Hayes and May respectively.
For the majority of the second half, it was a midfield battle.
The trialist James Sherman was brought on for Kevan Hurst with 25 minutes remaining. The first major incident of the period came soon after when the winger Garry Thompson fired narrowly over from 20-yards.
Adkins introduced defensive duo Sam Oji and Mark Byrnes for Iriekpen and Milne. The final change of the game for United saw the right-back Joe Wilcox replace Garry Thompson.
Josh Lillis was called into action for the first time with eight minutes remaining, superbly saving from Martin Woods' free-kick.
But six minutes later, Rovers were level. Stuart Elliott latched onto a long ball and lobbed the ball over the advancing Lillis to equalise.
Sparrow's late effort was well saved by Rovers' substitute keeper Ben Smith.