Headed goals from David McGoldrick and Luke Chambers have given the Blues a 2-0 half-time lead in their Boxing Day fixture at Doncaster.
Town boss Mick McCarthy named the same side for the fourth successive game with the Blues in their now familiar 4-3-3 formation.
McCarthy’s side started brightly and went close in the fourth minute when Daryl Murphy, who had started the move, forced Ross Turnbull to block his left-foot shot from inside the area after a neat interchange between Luke Hyam and Ryan Tunnicliffe had created the opening.
Dean Gerken had little trouble with Theo Robinson’s eighth-minute strike for the home side with little between the teams in a scrappy opening spell.
On 16 McGoldrick nodded a Tunnicliffe header to Turnbull, then two minutes later Frank Nouble screwed a cross behind when he should have done better after McGoldrick’s flick had sent him away on the right.
Town went ahead in the 24th minute after Murphy had forced the first corner of the game on the left. Aaron Cresswell whipped the ball over and McGoldrick rose ahead of Murphy to power the ball to Turnbull’s right. It was the Blues’ top scorer’s 10th goal of the season, although only his second away from home.
Nouble headed wide from a Chambers cross in the 28th minute as Town looked to add to their lead. A minute later, Tunnicliffe fed McGoldrick, who returned the ball to the on-loan Manchester United man with a superb flick, but the midfielder’s cross was stabbed behind ahead of the waiting Murphy.
But from the resultant corner, Town’s second of the match, the Blues did make it 2-0. Tunnicliffe sent the ball over from the right and skipper Chambers powered his near post header to Turnbull’s left and into the net for his second goal of the season.
Blues keeper Gerken did superbly to retain the two-goal lead in the 39th minute after Cole Skuse had fouled Mark Duffy five yards outside the area. The Rovers midfielder took the freekick himself and his curling shot looked goalbound until Gerken got across to his left to tip it onto the bar.
On 42 Robinson hit a low effort wide as the home side looked to get back into the game before the break.
But, after the Blues had wasted their third corner of the half, Tunnicliffe playing the ball short to Nouble, who lost out to Robinson, much to McCarthy's obvious frustration, referee Tony Harrington blew his whistle to confirm a 2-0 Town lead at half-time.
The Blues deserved their lead having had the better of the game’s chances with the home side unable to defend the two corners from which Town scored their goals. Doncaster’s only serious chance was the freekick which Gerken brilliantly kept out towards the end of the half.
Doncaster: Turnbull, Quinn, Wakfield, McCullough, Yun, Wellens (c), Furman, Duffy, Forrester, Macheda, Robinson. Subs: Maxted, Stevens, Cotterill, Woods, De Val, Bennett, Peterson.
Town: Gerken, Chambers (c), Berra, Smith, Cresswell, Hyam, Skuse, Tunnicliffe, Nouble, McGoldrick, Murphy. Subs: Loach, Mings, Tabb, Edwards, Anderson, Graham, Taylor. Referee: Tony Harrington (Cleveland). Att: