James Hayter scored two first-half goals as Yeovil Town edged closer to safety with a 2-0 win at Birmingham City.

Hayter gave his side a 12th-minute lead when he pounced on a weak pass by Hayden Mullins and coolly lobbed the ball over the stranded Darren Randolph.

Randolph was called into an action a minute later as he denied Joe Ralls and Kieffer Moore in quick succession as the home side looked shell-shocked by Hayter's opener.

However, things soon went from bad to worse for Lee Clark's side.

Ralls advanced down the left flank and whipped in a cross which Hayter met with a diving header to double his tally.

Lee Novak almost halved the deficit immediately, but the forward saw his header rattle the bar.

Marek Stech then had to stretch to deny Reece Brown and Olly Lee as Birmingham looked for a way back into the game.

Yeovil were forced into a change in the 53rd minute. Jamie McAllister, who had replaced Zoumana Bakayogo in the first half, had to leave the field himself, with Matteo Lanzoni taking his place.

Birmingham saw claims for a penalty waved away after Lanzoni tangled with Nicola Zigic inside the box, and then Stech reacted quickly to deny Brian Howard a debut goal for the Blues from six yards.

Birmingham were restricted to mainly long-range efforts as the game drifted towards 90 minutes, with Lee coming closest with an 18-yard shot which Stech did well to hold.