JOSH King scored a stunning 19-minute hat-trick to destroy 10-man Stoke as Gary Bowyer’s outstanding side roared into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Stoke opened the scoring in the 10th minute through Rovers nemesis Peter Crouch but they ultimately went the same way as their Premier League rivals Swansea City did in the fourth round.

King restored parity in the 36th minute and then won the penalty during eight minutes of added time at the end of the opening period that led to Geoff Cameron being sent off.

Top-scorer Rudy Gestede, one of eight changes made by Rovers boss Bowyer, did the rest from the spot.

Then it was all about the unstoppable King, who scored two carbon-copy goals in the space of five minutes at the start of a second half that turned into a procession long before its end.

That’s how utterly dominant Rovers were and they are now just one win away from a place in the Wembley semi-finals.

And on this blistering form you would not bet against them getting there.

It was a breathless and feisty first half but, with Ben Marshall and Steven Nzonzi sustaining injuries which required treatment inside the first five minutes, it took a little while to get going.

But when it did it most certainly did with King serving notice of his considerable threat in the fifth minute when he latched on to a pass over the top from Tom Cairney and tumbled under a challenge from Marc Muniesa in the box.

King then raced clean through on goal, following a neat flick from strike-partner Gestede, only to be pulled back by an offside flag.

It came somewhat against the run of play, then, when Stoke broke the deadlock.

A Victor Moses corner from the right broke to Crouch and he stretched out his long leg to poke home his ninth goal in his last nine games against Rovers.

Straight after Marshall, who was still struggling with his shoulder, was replaced by Craig Conway.

And insult could have been added to injury in the 15th minute when former Rovers striker Biram Mame Diouf forced Simon Eastwood into a fine save following a Crouch knockdown.

Big chances then came and went for both teams, Marko Arnautovic rifling into the side-netting for the Potters after Diouf outmuscled Lee Williamson to play him in, and then the unmarked King cracking against the crossbar after a Conway cross made its way to the back post.

He should have scored and Diouf should have made him pay in the 28th minute, dragging over with the goal at his mercy after Eastwood had denied Moses.

Eight minutes later and Rovers were level as a Conway corner delivered deep to the back post was met by Shane Duffy who directed the ball toward goal where King nodded it on and into the back of the net.

King then should have turned provider, racing away down the left, lacing the hapless Philipp Wollscheid, like he did all half, and sending over a perfect cross for Gestede.

But with the whole goal to aim at, and from just six yards out, he missed his kick.

However it mattered little as after Duffy looped a header on the roof of the net and Chris Taylor saw an effort hacked off the line, Rovers took the lead they deserved and they had threatened.

Gestede won another ball in the air and hooked it over for King who was hauled down, with just Butland to beat, by Cameron.

It was a definite red card and a definite penalty and Gestede doubled the punishment, cooly sending Butland the wrong way to take his tally for the term up to 14.

Stoke brought Andy Wilkinson on at half-time for Arnautovic but the right-back, who was sent off for Millwall against Rovers while on loan at the Den earlier in the season, must have wished he never had bothered.

As within 10 minutes of the restart King had completely obliterated him and his fellow defenders, who toward the end of the opening period, had started to argue among themselves.

King’s second goal came in the 50th minute, the Norway international racing on to a Gestede pass and leaving Muniesa on his backside before slotting the ball under Butland.

Muniesa injured himself trying to chase King but it was fruitless stuff.

By now the 23-year-old was completely unplayable and in the 55th minute he completed his hat-trick with a virtually identical strike to his one five minutes earlier, only this time steering the ball round Butland after Gestede had played him in again.

The famous old ground was rocking to its foundation and with the oles ringing around it, and with the Potters very much a beaten team, it was now a case of how many Rovers would score.

Firstly Butland saved superbly from Gestede, after Markus Olsson had hooked the ball to the back post, before Conway went on a mazy run across the box before dragging his shot just wide.

But, with man-of-the-match King off to a standing ovation, it stayed at four.

Rovers: Eastwood, Henley, Duffy, Kilgallon, Olsson, Taylor, Cairney, Williamson (Evans 46), Marshall (Conway 11), Gestede, King (Varney 79). Subs not used: Steele, Spurr, Hanley, Rhodes.

Booked: Williamson, Evans, Cairney.

Goals: King 36, 50, 55, Gestede 45 pen.

Stoke: Butland, Cameron, Muniesa (Sidwell 52), Wollscheid, Bardsley, Arnautovic (Wilkinson 46), Nzonzi, Whelan, Moses (Adam 67), Crouch, Diouf. Subs not used: Sorensen, Teixeira, Shenton, Palacios,

Booked: Diouf, Wollscheid, Whelan, Bardsley.

Sent off: Cameron 46.

Goal: Crouch 10.

Referee: Anthony Taylor.

Attendance: 13,934.