ANYBODY watching Burnley away from home for the first time this season at Goodison Park on Saturday would have left Merseyside scratching their head at the Clarets miserable record on the road.

Defeat to an Everton side who made it eight successive home Premier League wins with this 3-1 success means it is now 17 without a win away from home for Burnley in 2016/17.

In the grand scheme of things it’s not going to matter. Ten home wins have seen to that. But how have Burnley not won away?

They were wretched on the road at the start of the season but since December they have improved considerably, probably culminating in Saturday’s performance which may well have been their best of the season away from home.

They created numerous chances and should have scored more than just the once, and defended resolutely until undone by a deflection 20 minutes from time.

With Hull and Swansea both losing it was no damage done for the Clarets, but they will be desperate for that away win. Just two chances remain, but if they can match this performance at Crystal Palace and Bournemouth then you would expect it to come.

But despite the positives it was a 13th away league defeat of the season. A failure to take first half chances and a slow start to the second half, when the Toffees were always going to return reinvigorated, were partly to blame for that.

When Romelu Lukaku swept a shot straight at Tom Heaton on four minutes after a swift Everton move the tone looked to have been set.

But Burnley responded to that and were the better side in the opening 45 minutes.

Michael Keane was close to handing them an early lead when his header from a Robbie Brady corner was cleared off the line by Ross Barkley.

Then came two golden chances for Sam Vokes. First he latched on to Joey Barton’s volleyed pass through the middle but could only clip a shot into the chest of Joel Robles under pressure from Jagielka. Moments later Jagielka’s under hit backpass put Vokes through, but his finish was tame and fielded comfortably by the Everton stopper.

At the other end Heaton got down well to push a Mason Holgate shot away, but it had been Burnley’s best 45 minutes of the season away from home.

But they hadn’t gone in ahead and Everton were always likely to hit back, especially when Enner Valencia came on for Idrissa Gueye at the break.

The Clarets had barely been out of their half when a corner was helped on by Ashley Williams, with Jagielka’s header creeping over the line before Heaton pushed it away.

The response was rapid. Vokes was forced wide away from goal as he tried to reach Jeff Hendrick’s pass, so it made Robles’ rash challenge from behind all the more ridiculous.

There would be no complaints from the visitors though and Vokes picked himself up to score his eighth goal of the season.

Kevin Mirallas hit the post shortly after when he benefited from a fortunate ricochet, and that was a sign of things to come when Barkley struck, with his left-footed shot hitting both Keane and Ben Mee before creeping in.

Three minutes later it was game over. Lukaku brilliantly turned Keane and powered away before poking a shot beyond Heaton.

There was still time for Barkley to head off the line again, this time denying Stephen Ward, and it was a final score that was harsh on Burnley.