Nigel Clough hopes that Burton Albion's previous performances on the road this season has set a precedent for future games as they look to continue their two-match unbeaten away stretch on Friday night.

The Brewers take on fourth-placed surprise package Bristol City looking for a similar performance to the pair of 0-0 draws that saw the visitors string together a three-match unbeaten run last month.

Those draws with Norwich City and Queens Park Rangers could have even ended in wins for the Brewers, with chances for Joe Mason and Jamie Allen at Carrow Road coupled with Sean Scannell's post-hitting strike at Loftus Road leaving them ruing their missed opportunities.

But it was their resilience that pleased Clough the most. The Brewers' willingness to keep the goal out of their net was paramount in those draws - something he has admitted in recent weeks hadn't been present.

Burton Albion and Bristol City managers Nigel Clough and Lee Johnson
Burton Albion and Bristol City managers Nigel Clough and Lee Johnson

The traumatic back-to-back 4-0 defeats against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa at the Pirelli Stadium have brought the Brewers crashing back down to earth after those stellar away performances, and back to square one as they bid to try and keep their heads above water.

As Nigel Clough says, though, they've done it before, and he wants them to go one step further and grab that elusive away goal - a tough task against a side that a side that's unbeaten in 11 matches.

"It means that we are capable of it," Clough said, looking to those draws as inspiration for pulling another stingy performance out of the bag.

"If we'd conceded goals on the road all throughout the season, if it'd been two's and three's and four's (we'd be worried).

"It gives us something to point to, something for the players to say, 'listen, this is what we are looking for'.

"And we've already looked at those games anyway and said, for as good as we were defensively, that wasn't the problem in those games.

"Now, we want to go and get a goal and win 1-0 in those sorts of away performances.

"So that is what we are looking for - we are looking for a complete performance.

Jake Buxton and Kyle McFadzean dive in to deny Norwich City's Josh Murphy

"That is very difficult to get, but we are looking to be a threat, try to get a goal, but also be solid.

"That is the balance that everybody is looking for."

Friday night's test is the start of a - on paper at least - kinder run of matches against opposition that aren't expected to be challenging for promotion come May.

But, as Clough points out, Burton thought they could take some momentum into those home matches following their away performances and the win over Fulham.

Which, again, just goes to show that this league is as unpredictable as ever.

"We thought that at home to Villa and Wolves that we were going into home games on the back of an unbeaten run" he added.

"But the nature of the Championship is such that I don't think we can look at any game and say they are the ones that we're going to pick up points from.

"I just hope we can get some in the next five games, keep our head above water, and then you just keep getting through the season, month by month, and try to stay out of the bottom three."