Blackburn moved onto the fringes of the Championship play-off places with an emphatic victory at Stoke.
Scott Wharton's early header set Jon Dahl Tomasson's side on their way to a fourth successive away league win, Blackburn's best such run in the top two divisions for 22 years.
Wharton was given space by slack Stoke marking and headed Andrew Moran's corner in off a post after just four minutes, but six minutes later he was forced off following a clash of heads with Stoke striker Dwight Gayle.
Lacklustre Stoke, whose five-match unbeaten run came to an end, struggled to find their way back into the game and late goals from Andrew Moran and Sammie Szmodics secured the win.