No-one was happier to see his left foot shot find the roof of the net than Bradley Johnson given the success rate of the short corner routine in training.

Johnson lashed the ball home as Lewis Holtby cut the ball back in to his path from a second minute corner in the 2-0 win at Ashton Gate.

Rovers had worked on the routine in training on Friday, but Johnson admits it hadn’t paid off as they had hoped.

But they trusted in the process, thought up by manager Tony Mowbray and his coaching team, and got their rewards early on.

“The gaffer came up with the routine. We worked on it in training after being shown their weaknesses at set plays,” Johnson said.

“All we can do is go out there on the pitch and thankfully that work paid off for us. It didn’t work in training - I would get the shot off but it would get blocked

“I always believe in myself and when I get an opportunity I always back myself to get it on target. It was one of those that as soon as I hit it I knew it was going in.

“I’m happy that it went in and we managed to get the three points.”

Rovers made it four points from two away matches in the space of three days with the win at Bristol City following up the point at Swansea.

And that helped stretch their unbeaten run to six matches, much to the delight of Johnson.

"We knew it was going to be a big week for us. But to play the way we played and to get the result, it’s a great week for us,” the 32-year-old told the club website.

“To come here, against a good team, and keep a clean sheet, we showed our character to score goals and keep that clean sheet.

“The gaffer’s said that maybe last season we would have come here and conceded a goal, but I really do think we played them off the park.

“We weren’t afraid to play it out in dangerous areas and were brave on the ball, which you have to do in this league.”