Nigel Pearson praised Cam Pring after the wing-back grabbed his first goal for the Robins to help end their winless streak.
Bristol City headed into the World Cup break without a victory in six but set the tone of the contest when Nahki Wells' cross was turned into his own net by Wes Harding after 15 minutes. The lead last just 10 minutes before Chiedozie Ogbene headed home the equaliser when the dangerous Brooke Norton-Cuffy picked out a cross to the back post.
The visitors were exploiting the space behind 35-year-old defender Lee Peltier on that left side throughout the first half and their persistence was rewarded once again, this time Tommy Conway finding space to run in behind.
He collected the ball and used his pace to get to the byline before his cross was turned in from close range by Joe Williams for his second of the season. City had to be dogged and resolute in the second half which turned into a scrappy affair before Pring put the game out of sight.
Seconds after almost scoring himself, Alex Scott swung in a superb cross from the left and Pring stooped to head beyond Viktor Johansson in front of the travelling supporters. It was his first start in the league this season at left wing-back in the absence of Jay Dasilva who missed out with illness.
"A very good performance," Pearson said of Pring's contribution. "I'm pleased for him anyway today. He was very positive in and out of possession against a tough opponent. A good, all-round performance from him.
"It's a good result and a result that we needed. It was a bit scrappy at times but I thought we played with a really positive intent which is what we needed to do.
"Today, these are always going to be tight games and I suppose we caused them the types of problems that they normally cause and create against opponents. That is using wide areas so all three goals came from a ball from a wide area and that's encouraging for us.
"We're blessed with pace up front so when you think about Tommy and Nahki starting the game, and they absolutely ran themselves into the ground. Although neither of them were on the scoresheet today they were both very much involved in the game so it was important to try and start quicker than them.
"They score a big proportion of their goals early on in games and they are a very good home side let's put it like that. They have their identity. They'll chase anything into the corners with real pace. We had to be prepared to deal with that and we did.
"We always feel we have goals in us. When you've got the likes of Nahki, Andi Weimann, Tommy Conway, Chris Martin, Sam Bell... they've all got their strengths in terms of scoring goals and we've not always had goals from midfield and there we go.
"Joe (Williams) has got one from there today. Those are the elements that we need to try and improve over a sustained period of time to make us a more efficient team."
Pearson also praised the returning Kal Naismith who was excellent in the back three after two months out with a calf injury. It was his pass into Conway that led to the second goal.
The manager added: "He's a player that is really positive. At times he'll misplace a pass but I think from being two months out and coming back in and picking up where he left off is a testament to his professionalism but I thought the other two back there did really well. Andy King just showed his experience and George (Tanner) was competitive too."
SIGN UP: For our daily Robins newsletter, bringing you the latest from Ashton Gate
READ NEXT
