Bristol City 1-0 Blackburn: Sub Aaron Wilbraham fires late winner

Aaron Wilbraham climbed off the bench to net an 88th-minute winner as Bristol City snatched a 1-0 Sky Bet Championship victory over Blackburn at Ashton Gate.

The day after his 37th birthday, the veteran striker ran onto a long ball from Lee Tomlin and cut in from the right to score with a left-footed shot from 10 yards that appeared to take a defection.

It was a win the home side barely deserved against a Rovers side who defended stubbornly, threatened at times and were worthy of a point.

Blackburn edged a first half bereft of clear chances and went closest to scoring in the third minute when Ben Marshall's shot from inside the box was deflected narrowly wide.

Darragh Lenihan volleyed over from 20 yards as half-time approached and Blackburn could feel well satisfied with their efforts at the interval.

City looked more threatening at the start of the second half, with Tomlin having a chip comfortably gathered by Jason Steele and Paterson firing over from a promising position.

Scott Golbourne had a volley blocked, but the Blackburn defence held firm, with centre-backs Lenihan and Tommie Hoban in impressive form.

The visitors suffered a blow when former City defender Derrick Williams was forced to hobble off injured on 49 minutes, having done an excellent job at left-back. Charlie Mulgrew went on as replacement.

City boss Lee Johnson made a double substitution on 69 minutes, sending on Wilbraham to play alongside striker Tammy Abraham and Taylor Moore to replace Adam Matthews at right-back.

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Korey Smith, back in City's side after a lengthy lay-off, fired wide on 74 minutes, but the home side were still finding it hard to breach a determined Rovers side.

Fielding had to tip over a fierce Marshall drive from 25 yards, while at the other end an Abraham shot was blocked at the end of a slick City break. Then came Wilbraham's winner and Blackburn were left with nothing to show for a committed performance.

Bristol City boss Lee Johnson:

"Aaron still believes he should be in the starting line-up and told me he would score when I sent him on. He had a lot of family here for the game following his birthday and I couldn't be more delighted for him.

"I consider him a friend as much as a member of our squad. He is our policeman in the dressing room and a model professional, who sets a great example."

Blackburn boss Owen Coyle:

"I am gutted for the players and our travelling supporters. A performance like that would normally earn you three points, let alone one. We should have been ahead at half-time and my only concern is the small errors that can make all the difference in a close game.

"The goal came from our corner and one long ball forward after we concede a free-kick. We should have defended the situation better, but it was still an unfortunate deflection.