A first-half hat trick from Clayton Donaldson has put Birmingham City on course to beat Bristol City and move into the top six of the Championship.

The Blues took the lead after 10 minutes when David Cotterill fired in a cross for Donaldson, who slotted the ball into the net from close range, giving keeper Frank Fielding no chance.

Gary Rowett's men doubled their advantage on 20 minutes as a slide-rule pass from Jon-Miquel Toral played Donaldson into space and the forward coolly beat Fielding low to his right.

Bristol City tried to find a way back into the game immediately after as new signing Liam Moore played a through-ball in the direction of Luke Ayling, before the midfielder was flagged for offside.

The Robins first shot of note came on 25 minutes when striker Jonathan Kodija took aim at Tomasz Kuczszak's goal, but he fired wide of the target.

Kodija did manage to pull a goal back just after the half-hour mark with a close-range finish, but the Blues were given the chance to re-establish their two-goal lead when they were awarded a penalty for Aaron Wilbraham's foul on Toral.

Donaldson duly stepped up and sent Fielding the wrong way as the forward completed a first-half hat-trick to put City on course to climb into the top six.