BUMP! Back down to earth. After the high of getting one over Owen Coyle Burnley fans were dealt a harsh dose of Championship reality just three days later.

If anyone was in any doubt as to how cruelly unpredictable this division can be, the Clarets’ first two fixtures have served as a reminder.

The opening day couldn’t have gone better. A win and a clean sheet against your local rivals, who happen to be among the favourites for immediate promotion, and goals for both strikers – you just couldn’t ask for more.

But after shipping a late goal on Teesside on Tuesday, the feeling couldn’t have been worse.

It was hard not to get carried away by Saturday’s scoreline, and all that it meant.

But although Howe was undoubtedly buoyed by the result and the performance, he wasn’t prepared to get swept up in the tide of early optimism.

He is still a young manager, but has been in football long enough to know that nothing in this game is straightforward. Certainly not in the Championship.

His judgement was proved right at The Riverside, where Burnley conceded three times – twice within a minute of scoring themselves – to slip to defeat in their first away game.

But just as he was reserved amid wild celebrations on Saturday, equally Howe will not be overly concerned by a late loss to Middlesbrough, where two attractive brands of football collided.

Yes, there are problems to be ironed out, but Boro were blessed with two goal of the season contenders. You can’t legislate for that.

Most Clarets fans would have happily taken a point beforehand, but Boro had a point to prove having lost to Barnsley – a team tipped for relegation. It was arguably THE shock result of the opening day.

There have been others since. Who would have expected Birmingham to pick up only one point from games against two of the three newly promoted teams?

But there are plenty more of those thrills and spills to come.

Fasten your seatbelts, because it’s going to be a long and bumpy road until May.

Expect the unexpected.