Bristol City picked up their first win of the season with a 2-0 victory against QPR at Ashton Gate on Saturday.

The three points moves them up to 11th in the Championship and will provide the club with some well-needed optimism after a frantic first few weeks of the season.

The Robins lost star defender Adam Webster to Brighton and were handsomely beaten by Leeds United on the opening weekend, and then brought in four new players and lost two club stalwarts in the last few days of the transfer window.

One of the two long-serving players that left the club was Marlon Pack, who took the captain’s armband for the majority of last season and had made 283 appearances for the Robins.

City had added a ready-made replacement for Pack just hours before he left the club in Adam Nagy, a midfielder they signed from Bologna, and, he has impressed already.

The 24-year-old scored his first goal for the club against QPR and looked excellent in the heart of the Robins midfield before a knock forced him off the field after 49 minutes.

But is Nagy an upgrade on Pack?

We put a spotlight on his performance against QPR to investigate just that.

The Robins lined up in a 3-4-1-2 formation against the Hoops, with Nagy partnering Josh Brownhill in central midfield.

The Hungary international was superb for the first 49 minutes of his home debut before an injury forced Lee Johnson to replace him with Han-Noah Massengo.

The 24-year-old has not been brought in for his goalscoring prowess, having scored just twice before in his senior career, but produced an important goal against QPR to break the deadlock – striking a low volley into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

What Johnson has brought Nagy in to do is to serve as his midfield general and to control games for the Robins – his stats against QPR are an early indication that he is more than capable of doing that.

The midfielder finished the game with an outstanding 97% pass accuracy, after completing 32 of his 33 pass attempts in the game. He also showed that he has a wide range of tools when it comes to distribution, finishing with 100% long pass accuracy, 100% crossing accuracy, 86% forward pass accuracy and 100% back pass accuracy.

Nagy was reportedly criticised at Bologna for not taking enough risks with his passes and not providing enough incisive passes to create opportunities. That did not seem to be an issue on Saturday, as the 24-year-old finished with 100% accuracy for both passes to the final third and passes to the box.

The midfielder was praised by his boss after the game for the pace he added to City’s play and his athleticism. There was evidence of that with the way he drove his side forward while on the pitch, making two progressive runs in the game.

On the defensive side, he had a quieter game, winning 50% of his defensive duels and providing one clearance, but at home with three centre-backs behind him, there was less demand for that side of his game than there will be in future.

49 minutes is a small sample size but if Nagy can continue to put in performances of this level, he will surely be an improvement on Pack.

The former City captain’s statistics from last season are nothing special (pass accuracy of 83.3%, final third pass accuracy of 66.5%, two goals, three assists, 0.83 average progressive runs per game) but he appeared in every Championship game for the Robins and was consistent – something Nagy must now prove he can be.

The two are different players but Johnson has suggested the 24-year-old is what his team needs at the moment.

Speaking to The Bristol Post, he explained: “What he does is move the ball very simply and very quickly. That's the key. That's what we're looking to do. We're looking to get quicker all the time, and also get better on the ball.” 

Pack was a fantastic servant for the Robins and that should not be forgotten but, at 24, Nagy looks a player with a much higher ceiling and one that could certainly prove to be an improvement as the season wears on.