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Yes, we are still waiting for our first Premier League point. Yes, we are still waiting for our first Premier League goal. But if we can continue to play as we did, particularly in the second half, then it won't be too long before both are on the way.
There was a really relaxed atmosphere amongst the Burnley fans inside and outside the ground. Gone was the tension of the play offs (thankfully). This was a day to savour; it is what we've been waiting for.
When the team news arrived there were no surprises, indeed just three changes from the team that won at Wembley and two of them were forced on manager Owen Coyle. Tyrone Mears came in for Michael Duff whilst captain Steven Caldwell was replaced by Stephen Jordan and up front Steven Fletcher was preferred to Steven Thompson.
Graham Alexander, making his Premier League debut at the age of 37, captained the side as expected in Caldwell's absence.
Such is the size of our squad now that, despite the injuries to Duff and Caldwell, and the absence of David Edgar through suspension, we still had both Brian Easton and Jay Rodriguez missing out when it came to places on the bench.
Just as was the case at Wembley, Martin Paterson played on the right hand side in a 4-1-4-1 formation, a surprise given the amount of football we've played in pre-season with a 4-4-2 line up.
Attacking the Burnley fans in the first half we started brightly enough. Fletcher got on the end of a through ball but couldn't quite get a shot in and Robbie had an effort blocked after good work from Wade down the right.
At the other end it was like the bombardment we'd expected with long throws going in at every opportunity. It's hard to deal with and no matter how comfortable you look in a game there can always be a goal against when you play teams like this.
And that's what happened, not once but twice. We'd dealt with every throw but when referee Steve Bennett awarded Stoke their first free kick of the afternoon we failed to deal with it. The ball was crossed in from the left and Ryan Shawcross was granted a free header and we were behind.
The Clarets countered with Wade getting on to a Pato cross but a defender got in to deflect it away for a corner. Nothing came of it and then came goal number two, inevitably from a long throw. This time Jordan got to it but could only head past Jensen and the home side were celebrating a 2-0 lead.
For me Burnley came close to getting a goal back twice before half time and both times we were prevented from doing so by Mr Inept with the flag. The assistant referee down in front of us had made it abundantly clear already that he was not there to make decisions, but to back up the referee.
I have sympathy with Bennett with both decisions that he might not have had the best angle or the best view, but the flag waver did and didn't want to know. The first was when Chris McCann had his shirt pulled as he tried to get past the defender and then how on earth the handball by Wilkinson wasn't spotted (or given) was very difficult to accept.
At half time there we were 2-0 behind. We hadn't done enough to trouble Stoke but the scoreline was perhaps a bit harsh. We worried that a third goal could open the floodgates in the second half but after the break we really were much, much better.
We passed the ball better. We moved it forward quicker, and that's when Burnley are at their best. We took the game to Stoke and Wade was the first to come close with a shot that fired just over.
Stoke were a bit rattled, well certainly Abdoulaye Faye was. He was yellow carded for a cynical foul on Elliott and then got away with another with acting skipper Graham Alexander going in the book instead for speaking to the referee.
Coyle introduced Chris Eagles and Fernando Guerrero and the Ecuadorian in particular started to impress. I really believe once he's settled the Burnley fans are going to love him. He's going to frighten some defenders.
We knew we were losing the game but I just wish we could have got a goal back and opened our account. It was not to be unfortunately and in fact Stoke came the closest as we pushed men forward.
Dave Kitson, who turns slower and needs more room to do it than and X43 Manchester bus hit the bar and twice good defensive work kept them at bay.
We'd all hoped for a win on the opening day but it was not to be. However, we really can take heart from this performance and if we can continue to play as we did in the second half then we are going to get some good results in this league.
It was good to hear the Burnley fans at the end of the game. There was disappointment without a doubt, but no criticism and no despondency. We know we're in a tough league and we know we have to settle into it.
There were some good individual performances. Overall I thought the two central defenders did well, Grezza was in good form too but my man of the match was Tyrone Mears who had an excellent game.
It's only Manchester United next - we've nothing to worry about.
The teams were;
Stoke: Thomas Sorensen, Andy Wilkinson, Abdoulaye Faye, Ryan Shawcross, Danny Higginbotham, Liam Lawrence, Rory Delap, Dean Whitehead, Matthew Etherington (Glenn Whelan 76), James Beattie (Dave Kitson 67), Ricardo Fuller (Richard Cresswell 87). Subs not used: Steve Simonsen, Andy Griffin, Leon Cort, Danny Pugh.
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Tyrone Mears, Clarke Carlisle, Stephen Jordan, Christian Kalvenes, Graham Alexander (Steven Thompson 82), Martin Paterson (Chris Eagles 72), Wade Elliott, Chris McCann, Robbie Blake (Fernando Guerrero 72), Steven Fletcher. Subs not used: Diego Penny, Richard Eckersley, Kevin McDonald, Joey Gudjonsson.
Referee: Steve Bennett (Kent).
Attendance: 27,385.