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It's been one of those seasons so far when things have gone well at home but not quite so away from home, so it is good news we are back home although because of the run of draws on the road it is putting us under continued pressure to get wins at Turf Moor.
Looking back, it's nothing new and in some of our best seasons, those that have ended in promotions, we've started slowly on the road, none more so than eleven years ago when we won just twice in the first fourteen away games.
Our opponents Barnsley will know just how we feel. They have made a similar start with all their good results coming at Oakwell with their home form keeping them higher in the league.
We can't get that first away win now for a couple of weeks but we must keep the pressure on the top clubs by getting two good home results, starting tonight. A win would surely see us push back close to or even in the top six.
I upset some Barnsley fans a couple of years ago after predicting they'd be one of the teams relegated at the end of the 2008/09 season. They threw that back in my face by beating us twice and were one of only two sides to do so and they finished a comfortable six points above the drop zone.
Just to rub it in even further they knocked us out of the Carling Cup last season and avoided relegation by seven points. I think it is fair to say that, in their fifth season back since promotion, they have now very much established themselves in this league and are currently in a comfortable position just below half way.
There has been a remarkable improvement since Mark Robins came in as manager just over thirteen months ago and they are currently in a higher position than any they've finished in since the 1999/2000 season when they missed out on a return to the top flight in the play offs, losing to Ipswich in the final.
The good start is based on the four home wins including that win over Forest on Saturday when former Claret Andy Gray scored the third goal from the penalty spot.
This is a club that reached the top league thirteen years ago but then dropped and could so easily have gone out of business. They now look very much like a club on the way back up.
Mark Robins will almost certainly name three former Burnley players in his starting line up and I can't quite remember when that last happened. Stephen Foster is the one who went directly between the clubs when he signed from the Clarets in a £100,000 deal just after the start of the 2007/08 season.
Andy Gray will be up front after moving from Charlton last season while Jay McEveley, who had a loan at Burnley from Blackburn in the 2003/04 season, signed in the summer after being released by Derby County.
Robins' only injury concern is Argentinean forward Jeronimo Neumann. He has a groin injury and, although he's close to a return, tonight's game will come too early for him.
Otherwise it's a fully fit squad and the team could be the same as beat Forest on Saturday when they lined up: Luke Steele, Kieran Trippier, Stephen Foster, Jason Shackell, Jay McEveley, Jim O'Brien, Hugo Colace, Nathan Doyle, Adam Hammill, Goran Lovre, Andy Gray. Subs: David Preece, Diego Arismendi, Luke Potter, Liam Dickinson, Bobby Hassell, Chris Wood, Jacob Butterfield.
Burnley's team will be dependent on a couple of fitness tests involving defenders. Michael Duff missed out on Saturday with a recurrence of the calf injury that forced him off in the opening game of the season against Nottingham Forest.
He could well have come back into the side with Clarke Carlisle starting his three match suspension but that place went to Leon Cort who partnered Andre Bikey, himself doubtful ahead of kick off.
To add to all that, Danny Fox was forced off with a thigh injury on Saturday. Brian Laws said yesterday that it was improving all the time and it looked hopeful that he'd be passed fit for tonight.
Besides injuries there's been a bug at the club with a couple of players affected. Brian Jensen is believed to be one of them but the latest news was that he should be okay for tonight for what will be his 95th successive league appearance.
I think the Burnley team will be very close to the one that played at Bramall Lane on Saturday meaning we could line up: Brian Jensen, Tyrone Mears, Leon Cort, Andre Bikey, Danny Fox, Jack Cork, Wade Elliott, Dean Marney, Jay Rodriguez, Chris Iwelumo, Chris Eagles. Subs from: Lee Grant, Richard Eckersley, Michael Duff, David Edgar, Graham Alexander, Alex-Ray Harvey, Ross Wallace, Steven Thompson, Martin Paterson.
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What we didn't know was that we were just about to embark on a five game run in the league that would see us fail to pick up a solitary point and would leave us looking anything but play off favourites.
The game was preceded with a minute's applause for former captain Ray Deakin who had passed away on Christmas Eve just 49 and as the game kicked off we really struggled to get any energy into our game.
It was no surprise when Barnsley took an early lead in just the sixth minute from Jamie Cureton and they certainly set their stall out from that point with some clear time wasting.
It was poor stuff broken up only by referee Scott Mathieson who took objection to the goings on over the touchline. There is nothing more infuriating than the visiting manager kicking an extra ball onto the pitch to stop the game. We've seen Gary Johnson do it with Bristol City, but this time it was our manager and Mathieson immediately had all the extra balls removed.
Then, with seven minutes of the half remaining, we got ourselves back into the game. Robbie Blake made a run down the right hand side, spotted Chris McCann coming in at the far post and found him. McCann made no mistake, hitting a shot back across the goalkeeper into the far corner.
It transformed us and by half time Barnsley were the ones going in fortunate to be in front. Both Chris Eagles and McCann came close to getting a second. Then, Martin Paterson put one on a plate for Eagles only for him to put a tap in wide, a miss on a par with the one from Ade Akinbiyi against Watford a season earlier.
Unfortunately we could never pick the game up in the second half and it was Barnsley who went on to win it with a Jamal Campbell-Ryce shot that deflected off Steven Caldwell.
We didn't look like getting a second equaliser, and didn't, and the game eventually ended bizarrely as the referee failed to blow a final whistle. He just shook hands with the players.
The teams were;
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Clarke Carlisle (Kevin McDonald 78), Steven Caldwell, Stephen Jordan, Wade Elliott, Graham Alexander, Chris McCann, Chris Eagles, Robbie Blake (Steven Thompson 65), Martin Paterson. Subs not used: Diego Penny, Joey Gudjonsson, Alan Mahon.
Barnsley: Heinz Muller, Marciano van Homoet, Stephen Foster, Darren Moore, Rob Kozluk, Bobby Hassell, Anderson Da Silva, Diego Leon (Hugo Colace 58), Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Jonathan Macken (Marceo Rigters 72), Jamie Cureton (Kayode Odejayi 82). Subs not used: Dennis Souza, Mounir El Hamour.
Previous 20 Seasons | |||||
Season | Div | Ven | Result | Att | Scorers |
1994/95 | 1 | h | 0-1 | 11,968 | . |
| . | . | a | 0-2 | 5,537 | . |
2000/01 | 1 | a | 0-1 | 18,725 | . |
| . | . | h | 2-1 | 15,380 | Johnrose Payton |
2001/02 | 1 | h | 3-3 | 14,690 | Morgan(og) Briscoe Payton(pen) |
| . | . | a | 1-1 | 14,411 | Taylor |
2005/06 | LC | h | 3-0 | 4,501 | Lowe Akinbiyi Spicer |
2006/07 | C | h | 4-2 | 10,304 | Harley Noel-Williams(3) |
| . | . | a | 0-1 | 12,842 | . |
2007/08 | C | a | 1-1 | 11,560 | Gray |
| . | . | h | 2-1 | 11,915 | Elliott Lafferty |
2008/09 | C | a | 2-3 | 10,678 | Paterson(2) |
| . | . | h | 1-2 | 16,580 | McCann |
2009/10 | LC | a | 2-3 | 5,270 | Fletcher Eagles |