Bristol City 0-1 Blackburn: Rovers goalkeeper Balazs Toth stars as Tony Mowbray's side secure hard-fought win at Ashton Gate

The visitors had Toth to thank for still being in the game when Oladapo Afolayan rifled them into a 38th-minute lead with a clean right-footed shot from the corner of the box which wrong-footed motionless home goalkeeper Sam Tickle.

Toth was simply unbeatable on the night, making a string of outstanding saves, particularly in the first half. His efforts left City with nothing to show from a performance that started impressively and ended in massive frustration.

Robins boss Michael Skubala rotated his squad, making five changes from the 1-1 draw at Charlton, while Rovers manager Tony Mowbray recalled Tom Atcheson to the starting line-up in his only change from the 2-1 win over Cardiff.

The home side dominated the opening half hour and might well have been three or four up before falling behind. Dom Ballard alone could have had a hat-trick, but for the brilliance of Toth.

City's frontman got behind Blackburn's backline after 11 minutes, but delayed his shot and saw his low effort saved. That was nothing compared with Toth's superb save four minutes later, stretching every sinew to get a left hand to Ballard's well-placed header.

The busy striker went clear again in the 23rd minute, however, tried to make too sure of scoring and had his shot blocked to safety. Two minutes later, Toth flung himself to his left to keep out George Tanner's header from a Jed Wallace cross.

A Bristol City goal looked inevitable, though, Rovers weathered the storm and, while Afolayan's strike came out of the blue, they had more of the game as half-time approached.

Skubala introduced winger Yu Hirakawa as a substitute for Sam Greenwood at the start of the second half and Toth was in action again, diving full length to keep out Scott Twine's 30-yard free-kick.

Next it was Hirawaka to be denied by the outstanding Rovers goalkeeper, who spread himself to keep out a low 54th-minute shot.

When City finally found a way past him after 75 minutes, Jed Wallace was ruled offside to increase their anxiety.

Both teams made numerous changes and City failed to repeat their first-half dominance.

Toth saved again from substitutes Tommy Horvat and Elijah Adebayo in the closing stages to complete a faultless contribution.

Adebayo headed over in stoppage time, but Rovers defended tenaciously and by then home fans had accepted it was not their team's night.

What the result means and next fixtures...