Birthday boy John Brayford was on target as Burton climbed out of the League One relegation zone thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 victory at fellow strugglers Forest Green.

Substitute Bobby Kamwa added a second late on before Myles Peart-Harris’ response came too late for Rovers to salvage anything from the game.

An early Jamille Matt effort scooped over the bar was a rare highlight for the home side while at the other end, Deji Oshilaja and Jonny Smith combined only for the latter’s cross to be cleared by defender Oliver Casey.

It took until added time at the end of the half before Burton broke the deadlock.

Terry Taylor’s corner was missed by Forest Green goalkeeper Luke McGee and skipper Brayford headed in at the far post.

The home side’s best chance came midway through the second half when Josh March went down in the area but Matt’s penalty was saved by Ben Garratt.

Burton doubled their advantage in the 89th minute when Kamwa netted at the second attempt after an initial save from McGee.

And although the home side pulled a goal back in added time through Peart-Harris, it came too late to rescue a point.