"I thought we made a slow start but then weathered the storm and finished the first half on top," he said.

"There were no complaints about the penalty and once we conceded the first goal it was always going to be an uphill battle. But we stuck to our guns and kept playing the style of football we are going to employ in the Championship."

An entertaining first half had seen both sides miss chances and it was left to City manager Gary Johnson to hail second-half substitute Marvin Elliott for inspiring them.

Elliott was introduced at half-time in place of Bradley Orr, who had been booked by referee Jarnail Singh.

Within two minutes, Elliott broke and Singh played advantage as he was chopped down. Nicky Maynard burst clear only to be tripped inside the area by goalkeeper Neil Sullivan.

Michael McIndoe tucked away the resulting penalty against his old club and from then on it was plain sailing.

"Marvin Elliott gives great energy to our side," said Johnson. "It's great to have him back and it didn't take him long to make an impact.

"It's good to get our first home league win of the season and I'm delighted for Nicky Maynard because I gave him a bit of a rocket after our defeat by Birmingham in midweek."

Maynard, a £2.25m signing from Crewe, netted the second on 58 minutes with a right-footed finish after exchanging passes with Ivan Sproule.

It was 3-0 on 61 minutes as Sproule accepted a pass from Dele Adebola and turned defender Gareth Roberts to shoot low past Sullivan.

Doncaster refused to give in and pulled a goal back on 69 minutes through an assured left-footed finish by Ritchie Wellens.

But there was no way back as old boy McIndoe took Sullivan by surprise and found the bottom corner of the net with a 74th minute shot from 22 yards.

Bristol City: Weale, Orr (Elliott 46), Carey, Fontaine, McAllister, Sproule (Williams 81), Skuse, Johnson, McIndoe, Adebola, Maynard (Trundle 66). Unused substitutes: Henderson, Webster.

Doncaster Rovers: Sullivan, O'Connor, Mills (Lockwood 54), Hird, Roberts, Coppinger, Wellens, Stock (Woods 76), Hayter (Price 71), Guy, Byfield. Unused substitutes: Chambers, Elliott.

Referee: Jarnail Singh (Middlesex).

Man of the match: Nicky Maynard.