Blackburn striker Yuki Ohashi celebrates after scoring in first half added time against Bristol City at Ashton Gate

Blackburn's Yuki Ohashi celebrates after scoring in first half added time at Ashton Gate

Yuki Ohashi's winner made it three successive wins for Blackburn Rovers as they saw off a disappointing Bristol City at Ashton Gate.

The Japanese striker struck five minutes into first-half added time to continue Valerien Ismael's side's climb up the Championship table.

The home defeat was another setback for the toothless Robins following a 5-1 reverse at Stoke at the weekend as they fell out of the top six.

And there was more bad news with Brazilian defender Neto Borges joining the club's lengthy injury list after limping off midway through the first half and his replacement Mark Sykes unable to finish the match because of a badly-cut shin.

An organised Rovers were good value for their win, taking advantage of a passive first-half performance from the home side to secure a lead and then holding them at arm's length after the break.

Blackburn's goal came from their most productive area, down the right flank where Ryan Alebiosu and Ryoya Morishita caused Bristol City no end of problems.

Morishita had wasted a great chance in the 41st minute when he put a free header over the bar from Ryan Hedges's cross but he was pivotal in the goal.

Freed by Lewis Miller, he got to the byline and squared from Ohashi - with his head bandaged from an earlier cut - to score his third goal of the season from close range.

Although the Robins were sharper in the second period, threatening briefly through headers from Rob Dickie and Ross McCrorie, they were unable to fashion a single shot on target in the match.

Even though Blackburn lost their captain Scott Wharton and had to switch goalkeepers for the last 10 minutes when Balasz Toth limped off, they closed the game out with no alarms.

They will be at home to Derby County in a lunchtime kick-off on Saturday, with Bristol City travelling to Watford on Friday evening.

'Difficult to deal with Blackburn' - reaction

Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber told BBC Radio Bristol

"We are frustrated about the result - we expected a game with many interruptions and this crashed our flow in the game.

"It was difficult to deal with Blackburn, their energy, and you can see at the moment they have momentum with this style of play.

"They had two moments in the first half and score, we have two in the second half and don't score. In the end I would say it's a defeat which feels painful.

"We would wish a different situation where we can bring fresh legs on but that's not possible at the moment with the injuries. I am not going to moan but it's a big challenge at the moment.

"He (Neto Borges) felt something could come and made the very good decision to come out. Mark Sykes has a big, deep cut on the shin bone. He's on the way to the hospital right now. It's not so good for the Friday game."

Struber: "We are frustrated with the result"

Blackburn Rovers head coach Valerien Ismael told BBC Radio Lancashire

"We showed two faces today. The first half was very solid, under control, played well, scored a goal brilliantly.

"In the second half it was just the fight. We lost too many balls, put them back in the game but they didn't have a big chance to score which is good, we were solid.

"With better quality in transition maybe we could have finished it earlier. Another forceful performance away and another clean sheet which is good for the confidence after Leicester.

"We knew the performances were right from the beginning of the season without getting the reward, now we are picking up points so the picture is right."

Valerien Ismael: 'We paid a big price for the win'

Player of the match

Y. Ohashi
8.78
23 R. Vítek
5.18
14 Z. Vyner
5.08
17 M. Sykes
5.05
2 R. McCrorie
4.97
4 A. Randell
4.89
16 R. Dickie
4.64
30 S. Armstrong
4.64
19 G. Tanner
4.43
24 H. Roberts
4.40
11 A. Mehmeti
4.33
21 Neto Borges
4.05
10 S. Twine
3.86
9 F. Mayulu
3.56
18 E. Riis
3.56
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After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.

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