THERE is supposed to be no place like home - but not for the Clarets at the moment.

Home sickness refers to a desire to return to the place you know best, the comfort of your natural surroundings.

At the moment the Burnley players just appear to be sick of home!

The Clarets have now gone five home games without winning and left their manager and several thousand fans scratching their heads.

In three of those games the team that was scoring for fun early in the season has failed to find the net and they have not actually led a game at home since they beat Stockport County in mid-December.

Sheffield Wednesday, West Bromwich Albion and now Birmingham City have all taken three points and Nottingham Forest would have done if it had not been for Arthur Gnohere's late header.

It is a tribute to the early season form of Stan Ternent's team that they are still in the top six despite such a wretched run.

When the pressure is on at the end of the season every game is of equal importance. But to paraphrase George Orwell, some games are more equal than others.

That is why last night was such a huge let-down for everyone connected with the club. Victory would have been a massive blow to the Blues but now they are just four points behind Burnley with a game in hand.

Dropping points at home is not something unique to Burnley who have now won more times away from Turf than on it. In the Premier League Liverpool seem to carry more threat away from Anfield than at home, struggling to make home "advantage" count.

Perhaps the Clarets are unhappy trying to force the game, maybe they like the music that is played on the team bus when they go away, they could be inspired by the more vocal support of the away fans as opposed to those at Turf Moor.

Ternent has appealed to the fans to get behind his team but he is also painfully aware that it is up to his players to give them a reason to shout instead of moan.

There is an element of the chicken and egg situation. Do the players play better because they are being roared on but do the fans need to be lifted in order to get behind them?

It is a bit of both but whichever way you take it, the fans and the players are all in this together.

There are now just six home games left and with the top two getting away it looks like it will be play-offs at best for Burnley come April 21.

If there is to be a seventh home game in a play-off semi-final the time has come for the fans to stand up and be counted - admittedly in an all-seater stadium.

Every paying fan has the right to moan about his or her side but I have never yet met a player who believes hearing complaints has helped his game.

So save the moans for the pub and give the manager the backing he has asked for. If the players then fail it is not the fault of the Turf Moor faithful.