Bristol City: Bittersweet weekend given Plymouth Argyle, Middlesbrough developments | OneFootball

Bristol City will have enjoyed their 4-0 win over Plymouth Argyle, but will be left jealous by Tommy Conway's Middlesbrough exploits

Bristol City will be delighted by the manner of their 4-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle, which sees them sitting 11th in the Championship table – five points behind the play-off places.

The Robins had suffered back-to-back defeats at the hands of automatic promotion candidates Burnley, and play-off hopefuls Watford, but a heavy win over the Pilgrims will instill Liam Manning's men with confidence that they can overcome rock-bottom Portsmouth on Saturday.

Wayne Rooney's side initially kept the Robins at bay for 45 minutes, as the halftime score at Ashton Gate on Saturday afternoon was 0-0, but Scott Twine's goal on 57 minutes opened the floodgates.

Following Twine's opener, Anis Mehmeti doubled the hosts' lead just five minutes later, and the former Wycombe Wanderers man went on to bag a brace, as he notched his sixth goal of the Championship campaign.

A truly miserable afternoon for the Pilgrims but a joyous outing for the Robins was capped off by Sinclair Armstrong's strike in the dying embers of the game.

Saturday was bittersweet for Bristol City despite Plymouth hammering

While the Ashton Gate faithful will have been delighted with their side's biggest win of the campaign so far, Saturday afternoon also provided them with a prominent reminder of an unwanted summer departure.

Robins academy graduate Tommy Conway left the West Country outfit in favour of joining Middlesbrough back in August and the 22-year-old has not looked back since.

Since making his move to Boro, the Scotland international has scored eight times in just 14 Championship appearances, and is only two strikes away from matching the 10-goal return he managed for the Robins in the second tier throughout the entirety of last term.

While on Saturday, he produced arguably his best performance in Boro colours to date, as his brace inspired Michael Carrick's men to a 3-1 victory over Hull City.

Furthermore, Conway's tally of eight goals so far this season means he has scored more goals than any Robins player this season, with Mehmeti's six topping the charts for Manning's men.

Meanwhile, summer signings Armstrong and Fally Mayulu, who are out-and-out strikers and can therefore be seen as direct Conway replacements, have managed just three goals and two goals respectively in the Championship so far.

While Robins supporters will be relatively content with the fact that their side sit just five points below the play-off spots, they will regret the fact that Manning's men are inconsistent, and have suffered poor results, such as 3-0 defeats at both Derby County and Blackburn Rovers, as well as yielding positive scorelines such as a recent 2-0 triumph over play-off contenders Norwich City.

Conway's current form at Boro will therefore leave Robins fans with that 'what if' feeling experienced by many football supporters, as they wonder whether their side would have stronger top-six credentials if the Scotland international had remained at Ashton Gate.

Many fans of Conway's old club will also look at Boro's current position in the Championship table with a strong hint of jealousy, amid the 22-year-old's goal-scoring exploits.

But if Manning's men can win at Portsmouth on Saturday, and follow that result up with an improbable victory in Sunderland next Tuesday, then they will have turned a corner and would be able to seriously back their own top-six chances.

However, obtaining consistency in the Championship is difficult to come by, and something which would, perhaps, have been easier for Manning and co if Conway had never left.