Birmingham City have held off a determined challenge from Bristol Rovers to seal a 2-1 win in their League Cup first-round clash at the Memorial Stadium.

There was little in the way of chances in the early stages of the first half, though Wes Thomas's snapshot in the 23rd minute could have been dangerous had it not been deflected away from goal.

Moments later Andrew Shinnie burst inside and fired from the edge of the area, but this was again deflected off a Rovers body and out of play.

There was a late flurry of action before the break as Lee Brown presented Thomas with a gilt-edged chance in front of goal, but the subsequent effort was hit well over.

Both sides jostled after the restart but the Championship side would draw first blood in the 57th minute when Thomas raced onto a poor backpass to fire towards Steve Mildenhall.

The Pirates keeper blocked the initial effort, but the rebound fell to Jacques Maghoma who coolly fired in his first goal for the Blues.

Rovers were level just eight minutes later as Ellis Harrison bundled a loose ball home following a poor attempt at a clearance from the opposition.

Birmingham struck back almost immediately, however, David Davis finding Shinnie in space and the latter firing a powerful effort into the bottom corner.

The Blues dominated proceedings on the pitch as they weighed in with further chances and could have extended their lead.

Ultimately the final whistle blew on a narrow yet definitive win for the visitors that sees them progress to the second round of the competition.