Blackburn Rovers recorded their fourth successive away league win as they beat Stoke City 3-0.

Goals from Scott Wharton, Andrew Moran and Sam Szmodics secured another triumph on the road for Jon Dahl Tomasson's side and moved them to within two points of the play-off places.

Rovers lead after five minutes with Wharton heading in Moran's corner to give them the perfect start. It was a frantic start with Szmodics twice going clear but steering just wide.

Stoke then dominated possession for large periods but were unable to break down a resolute defence. Despite giving up the ball, Rovers were comfortable in their shape and restricted the hosts to very few chances.

They then made sure of the points in the final five minutes. Moran capped off a fantastic week by turning in the rebound of Jake Garrett's spilled shot and that ended the game as a contest.

There was still time for a third though as Szmodics raced through on the break, rounded Jack Bontham and then rolled the ball into an empty net for his 11th of the season.

Tomasson's side were chasing a fourth successive away league win ahead of kick-off. The last time they had managed that was in April 2018, the season they were promoted from League One. It had been 22 years since they managed that feat at second-tier level.

They almost got off to the perfect start as they took the lead after just more than 60 seconds. Moran's lobbed ball sent top-scorer Szmodics scampering clear but he lifted the ball over Jack Bontham and wide of the post. 

It didn't matter though as shortly after, Blackburn were ahead. Moran's corner found the head of Wharton and he glanced it in off the near post to give Rovers an early lead.

Stoke, on the back foot early on, came back with their first opportunity of the game. Daniel Johnson fired low across goal and it needed the reflexes of Leopold Wahlstedt to turn it wide. From the resulting corner, a clash of heads saw goal-scorer Wharton substituted, though he encouragingly walked off the pitch.

Rovers responded and again could have doubled their advantage. Szmodics again got the better of the Stoke defence with a clever run behind but could only poke wide as Bontham raced out.

After such a frantic start, the remainder of the first half failed to live up to expectations. Stoke dominated the ball but did very little with it, as Rovers happily sat in their shape and asked the hosts to break them down.

The home crowd grew frustrated and the game was very scrappy. Considering the Potters signed 19 players in the summer, they lacked any sort of attacking thrust to try and get back in the game.

Defensively, Blackburn were sound though they were guilty of turning over the ball cheaply. Considering the free-scoring games Tomasson's side are usually involved in, this was quite far removed.

There were opportunities on the break for Rovers to try and kill the game. With Stoke committing men forward, good pressing from the front saw the visitors win possession high up the pitch but they couldn't quite find the killer pass.

Stoke continued to probe, albeit at a snail's pace, but were met by resolute defending. James Hill and Hayden Carter were rock-solid at the heart of the defence and didn't give the Potters' attack a sniff.

They could've wrapped the match up with ten minutes to go too after a clever turn by Moran in the area. After evading his man, his shot was over the bar though.

However, the Irishman would get on the scoresheet as he sealed the points for Tomasson's side in the final five minutes. Substitute Garrett's shot was fumbled by Bontham and there was Moran on hand to make it 2-0.

It rounds off a special week for the teenager, who made his senior debut for the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday night. However, that wasn't the end of the scoring.

Szmodics, determined to get himself on the score sheet, raced through on the break and rounded the goalkeeper before smuggling the ball in to make it three. By that point, the ground had emptied and it was just the Rovers fans enjoying the late goal-mouth action.

The victory moves Rovers up to tenth in the Championship table ahead of a two-game week at home to Birmingham City and away at Sheffield Wednesday.