If you win your home games and draw away, you'll do alright. That's how it's meant to work, right?

Blackburn Rovers are tearing up the script after securing their fourth successive away win in the league against Stoke City. It was a different type of win and that might please Jon Dahl Tomasson the most.

The last time they managed that feat was in April 2018, beating Portsmouth, Walsall, AFC Wimbledon and MK Dons on their way to promotion out of League One. At second-tier level, you have to go back 22 years for four triumphs on the road, in a row.

The pre-match press conference was dominated by discussion about the home and away form. What's the big difference? Tomasson was pretty clear, he believes it is down to the timing of the goals.

READ MORE: JDT's verdict on Rovers win

At Queens Park Rangers, they were 2-0 up early on. Millwall bucks the trends where they fell behind, though were level by the 30-minute mark, and Norwich City they again struck first and in the opening stages. His theory carried further weight at the Bet365 Stadium when they led after five minutes.

Rovers were quick out of the blocks and had already threatened with Sam Szmodics' darting run in-behind but Jack Bonham did enough to put him off. This, though, was a rare set-piece goal, with Scott Wharton meeting Andrew Moran's corner and diverting the ball beautifully in-between Dwight Gayle and the post.

Alex Neil bemoaned his side's defending of that situation in his post-match debrief. He correctly pointed out that Rovers often take their corners short and had only scored from one corner all season. Even that was a second phase at Rotherham.

You'd have to back to the first of May for the last time a corner was thumped in by a Rovers head. That was Hayden Carter against Luton Town and perhaps the element of surprise bamboozled the Stoke defence.

So, once again, Rovers had their noses ahead early on. It was another frantic start to the game, end-to-end and chances for both sides in transition. Szmodics' bursting run again saw him through again but the Championship's top-scorer poked wide.

At the other end, Leopold Wahlstedt denied Daniel Johnson but that was all the Rovers goalkeeper had to do for the rest of the game. Even a defensive reshuffle did not cause Blackburn to wilt as Wharton was forced off after a clash of heads.

What followed was quite peculiar and very, un-Blackburn, certainly under Tomasson. Rather than continue to fight fire with fire, go for the throat as we're so familiar with, Rovers sat off.

They allowed Stoke to have the ball and laid down the gauntlet. 'Go on then, break us down'. Neil again commented on that approach: "That's the most passive I've seen Blackburn when they've been ahead and I've seen a lot of their games."

It's true. But it worked a treat. There were times when Rovers could've used the ball better and exploited Stoke's shape in transition. They have played better in-possession and lost this season, for sure.

What they did show was something new though. An appetite to sit in their shape, not be baited into pressing, and then sucker punch. Bang, bang. Cold, clinical.

Part of the reason for the improved away form, in my opinion, is that the team is best when it can counter-attack. Particularly when they're ahead and the opposition have to press for an equaliser.

Away from home, the onus is on the hosts to press and try and 'take the game' to the opposition. That leaves space for Blackburn to exploit and they have been excellent at doing just that.

Stoke had 65 per cent possession, according the BBC Sport. They created nothing of note. Rovers allowed them into the final third and then slammed the gate shut. It was a mature performance.

Hayden Carter, back in the side after injury, was immense alongside James Hill. Lewis Travis was rock-solid at right-back, out of position again, and Harry Pickering is Mr Reliable. Callum Brittain nullified the threat of Ki-Jana Hoever, switching from the right to the left to do so.

A word for Sondre Tronstad too, who has started Rovers' last seven Championship games. In that time, they have won five, conceded four times and kept three clean sheets. If you compare that to their record beforehand, it's night and day. 

You could say the same for Hill too, who hasn't looked back since coming into the team. Whether at right-back or in the middle, the impact since he and Tronstad came into the team is not a coincidence.

The icing on the cake was the knock-out blows. Two of them to really rub salt in the wounds of Stoke and add to their frustration.  

Moran capped off a brilliant week in which he made his Republic of Ireland debut by adding his first Rovers goal. Jake Garrett's shot was fumbled by Bonham and he's alive to the danger. He beats Michael Rose to the ball and it's 2-0, game over.

There was still time for the Championship's top-scorer to get in on the act too. The impactful Garrett slid him in, around the goalkeeper he went and smuggled in on the line. 11 for the season, the most goal contributions in the league too and the best goals-to-minute ratio of those at the top of the scoring charts. What a season Szmodics is having.

The big challenge for Rovers is now to sort out the home form. They were so good at Ewood Park last season but it hasn't clicked yet this season. Part of that is misfortune, some of it is poor finishing and the rest is probably individual mistakes.

This away win puts them on the coattails of the play-off places, two points behind sixth. If they're to continue defying the odds, a home win against Birmingham City is imperative. Both for the points tally but also momentum at Ewood Park.

Then comes Sheffield Wednesday, the league's bottom club. It's a great week for Blackburn to build on this impressive display and really assert themselves in the play-off race.