A FORMER Burnley manager once accused me of not being able to balance realism with expectation.

And after seeing the reaction to Saturday’s FA Cup exit at Reading, I’d suggest there isn’t me who struggles with juggling the two.

It certainly wasn’t a vintage Claret performance on Saturday and defeat against a struggling Championship side is disappointing.

But to question Brian Laws’ ability to do his job is petty and another example of people taking cheap shots at the new boss because he may not have been their number one choice.

Had we had a sparkling away record then I could have understood the derision at being beaten by the Royals.

But the fact is we’ve been woeful on the road all season and any notion of us turning up in Berkshire and rolling Reading over was just laughable.

Just last season, the Madejski would have been one of those grounds where a point would have seemed like a good result.

Now we’re Premier League, some of us suddenly think we have the right to expect victory as a matter of course.

Reading dispatched Liverpool in the last round and outplayed Rafa Benitez’s side in both games.

Our performance wasn’t good enough but Laws will have seen plenty of signs – albeit in small glimpses – that he has the players capable of turning round the horrendous away record.

The defence looked solid for the most part despite the returning Chris McCann being forced to play left back due to the absence of Stephen Jordan and Christian Kalvenes.

It wasn’t ideal but Laws clearly feels that Brian Easton isn’t quite ready for first team action and we have to trust his judgement.

Brian Jensen had another decent outing and could do very little about Sigurdsson’s late winner.

The one concern I do have is the effectiveness of the midfield when we don’t have the ball.

For me, Kevin McDonald and Wade Elliott just need to up their game a little when we lose possession because for all their attacking strengths, the only downside to their game is a reluctance to charge back and put pressure on the opposition.

Missing Steven Fletcher - who should be fit for Tuesday’s game against you-know-who - we looked a little toothless in front of goal but the return of Martin Paterson, and the addition of Frederic Nimani to the squad last week, gives Laws more options up top.

Pato ran hard but couldn’t quite find the same kind of magic as he did in the play-offs last May.

However disappointed we were with the result on Saturday, we have to cast aside any negatives and unite again behind Brian.

The trip to Bolton is another massive game for the Clarets and I am sure the players will not need telling they need to be at their best if they are to snatch three points from under Owen Coyle’s nose.

Something tells me the away day jinx may just come to an end in Horwich tomorrow night.

Maybe then we can lay the ghost of Coyle to rest and concentrate on helping Laws and the boys to stay in the top flight…where we belong!