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Birmingham secured a comfortable 3-1 victory over relegation-threatened Doncaster to kick-start their stalling promotion push and climb to fourth.

Frederic Piquionne's header from Simon Gillett's cross opened the scoring but the hosts' lead never looked secure.

Marlon King rattled the bar before Carl Ikeme could only parry Nikola Zigic's effort to David Murphy who levelled.

A superb long-range strike from Chris Burke and cool finish from King ensured the Blues pressure was fully rewarded.

The three points were welcome to Chris Hughton's side, who had only managed one win in their last seven league outings.

The visitors could have taken the lead before the break but referee Colin Webster opted to book King for diving when he appeared to have been caught by a sprawling Ikeme on the half-hour mark.

Zigic also poked against the post from five yards, but the Serbian's wastefulness was reprieved when Burke cut inside and arrowed a 25-yard shot into the top corner to put his side ahead.

Birmingham looked likelier to extend their lead than be pegged back, and King duly doubled their advantage with an adroit finish from Murphy's cross-field pass.

The defeat leaves Doncaster bottom after just one win from nine games in March.

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