TWO away games in four days earlier this week proved to be a microcosm of Town’s season so far.

A visit to Burton Albion, struggling third from bottom and without a win or a goal in their previous five Championship games? A Blues win obviously.

Third-from-top Cardiff City on their own turf? Another defeat to higher-flying opposition, equally obviously.

Town’s record for the season reads won seven, all to teams in the bottom half, and lost seven, all except one to teams in the top half. That flat-track bullies tag is still to be thrown off.

The Blues are yet to draw a league game after 14 matches of the season, equalling a record established at the start of the 1954/55 campaign. Overall they have now gone 21 league fixtures without drawing, five off another club record.

Saturday’s match at Burton was more reminiscent of Sunday league games across the country than the nation’s second highest division.

For much of the first half it was much like one of those folk football matches played between neighbouring villages in days of yore with a strong wind playing a part in reducing the quality.

As a footballing spectacle it was a good advert for doing something completely different with Saturday afternoons.

Burton had the better of the battle and went ahead but Town showed the spirit which has been the hallmark of Mick McCarthy’s Blues and gradually got themselves on top, eventually running out 2-1 winners via Bersant Celina’s superb free-kick.

It was a goal entirely out of place in the game as a whole, as was the on-loan Manchester City man’s extravagant shirt-throwing celebration.

The positivity generated by a return to winning ways after three defeats - if not the less than entrancing performance - was somewhat diluted by McCarthy’s post-match swear-a-thon press conference.

The Blues boss was clearly irked by the similarly sweary less-than-favourable review of his style of football sung by large sections of the travelling support and hit back at the detractor boys who want him gone, reiterating that he’ll be at Town until his contract is up in the summer at the very least.

While it’s understandable that anyone in any job would be irked if their ability to do it is so vehemently criticised, bosses, as the figureheads of clubs, are expected to have rather more decorum and to rise above the terrace maelstrom.

Perhaps even more so at Town where the managers mythologised and held in esteem are those gentlemen of football, Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson.

It does appear that the relationship between McCarthy and a very significant number of fans has irretrievably broken down.

It’s difficult to see how it’s going to change now, other than perhaps if the Blues achieve what would be promotion very much against the odds. Maybe not even then.

Regardless of supporters’ views of McCarthy himself or his approach to the game, it’s undeniable that Town have largely overachieved position-wise during his tenure, which reached its five-year mark on Wednesday, given the scant resources - by current Championship standards - at his disposal.

The animosity towards the manager and the overall mood among fans are currently more akin to a club in the midst of a relegation battle than one in mid-table, only four points from the play-offs with a game in hand on most of the clubs above them.

That’s likely to continue until there’s a change and a fresh start under someone else with a parting of the ways at the end of the season now seeming inevitable.

At Cardiff, a much-changed but still strong team found themselves behind to the first of three poor goals having started slowly.

Once they’d got going Town had a decent spell in which they played rather more football than at Burton and had chances to get back on terms, but as against Norwich they failed to take their opportunities.

Cardiff’s second goal 35 seconds after half-time appeared to settle the game until Celina’s late strike caused unexpected and brief nerves for home fans prior to the Bluebirds’ third.

Saturday sees Preston visit Portman Road. Where are the Lilywhites in the league? In the top half, a place in front of the Blues on goal difference in tenth.

Another chance for Town to try to upset that frustrating form book before they go into the international break. Not that it would do much to enhance McCarthy’s standing among the support.