I’M going to lobby the Premier League to see if we can scrap having to play away from home.

Or at the very least play our away games at Old Trafford!

The 0-0 draw at Manchester United remains our most – only – positive result on the road and having gone into the game at Stoke City last Saturday with some confidence, it was dispiriting to come away empty handed.

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I don’t know what it is about being away from Turf Moor but we look a different side altogether.

Boss Sean Dyche made four changes to his starting line-up but it didn’t change our luck.

Two goals down inside the opening 35 minutes and we had a mountain to climb.

Stoke, in many ways, are the kind of model that we should aspire to.

Not necessarily in terms of footballing style – although Mark Hughes’ additions over the last 12-18 months have certainly taken them up a notch – but in the way that they have built steadily as a Premier League side.

On Saturday they executed a plan superbly, nullifying our early threat, scoring twice before half time and then displaying astute game management in the second half.

Dyche admitted afterwards that we must become a lot more streetwise on the road and I think that is the minimum we need to be.

On too many occasions this season we’ve allowed ourselves to be dictated to.

It’s been the same the last two seasons in the top flight and we’ve not yet been able to solve the problem.

I’m just glad our form on our own patch has been much better.

Talking of which, the run of Turf Moor games we have coming up – starting with the visit of Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth on Saturday – are going to be absolutely crucial.

With the Cherries, Middlesbrough and Sunderland the next three at Turf Moor, that’s a massive chance to not only get some welcome points on the board but also put some of our nearest rivals to the sword.

Bournemouth will be a tough test, especially given the way they came back from 2-0 and 3-1 down to beat Liverpool 4-3 last weekend.

Howe has got them playing neat, expansive football and coupled with the way have been playing at home, it should be a fascinating spectacle.