TRAVELLING fans saw the best of Burnley, but also the worst.

Their heaviest defeat of the season was recorded in their penultimate game, and last trip of 2011/12.

Although there had been some disappointing losses during the course of the campaign, the Clarets took solace from the fact they had never been beaten in the league by more than two goals.

“We’ve always been in games,” noted manager Eddie Howe.

That was until an afternoon at Bloomfield Road, where the Tangerines cemented their place in the top six with a 4-0 win.

A goal back at 3-0 might have made things interesting.

It would certainly have gone some way to restoring personal pride, and they had the chances to achieve it.

But to Howe’s frustration the Clarets surrendered, rendering previous tonics on their travels a distant memory.

As Blackpool got their play-off party started, Burnley were left to reflect on what might have been.

With two away draws, it was generally all or nothing for Howe’s men on the road last season.

Ten away wins was a creditable return, but the Blackpool defeat meant there were more bad days than good in the end.

Although the heaviest, it was not the Clarets’ worst loss.

Leading 2-0 at Watford, who were fearing relegation at the time in early March, they were fully expected to recover from back-to-back defeats at eventual runners-up Southampton and champions Reading.

Instead, they suffered a second-half capitulation, and a third straight defeat.

Although Keith Treacy conjured a candidate for goal of the season at Peterborough in September, that was a pretty dismal display too, while the least said about trips to Barnsley and Bristol City, the better.

But Burnley were determined to prove that losing 2-0 at Crystal Palace in their first away game would not set the tone for the rest of their travels.

Charlie Austin was at the double as Derby were beaten 2-1 – the Clarets’ first win of the season.

Fresh from scoring his first league goals of the campaign, Jay Rodriguez secured a 1-0 win at Millwall. That battling display at the New Den taught Burnley they could dig out a result.

That fighting spirit was never needed more than at Hull City on November 26 where, trailing 2-0, they were on the verge of dropping into the bottom three.

Canadian defender David Edgar could not have picked a better time to score his first goals for the club to draw level, before Rodriguez stunned the Tigers with a last-minute winner.

Burnley catapulted up the league after taking maximum points from Upton Park and Brighton’s new AMEX Comm-unity Stadium in December, and Middlesbrough in the new year.

The knock-on effect to their home form was positive.

But their flirtation with the play-offs was short-lived as February proved a tough month and threw a spanner in the works.

A 5-1 win at Portsmouth, where Charlie Austin scored a first career hat-trick, revived hopes of another challenge.

But an action-packed April and a growing injury list – with Rodriguez missing eight of the last nine games, and Martin Paterson missing most of the season – took its toll.