AFTER last week’s tirade about money culture, I thought a return to some actual football would be a good tonic.

And with two games in four days there was plenty of opportunity to sample some.

Of the many issues that arose from Town’s draw and defeat – referees, marking at corners, players in unorthodox roles etc – I landed on the mindset of playing home and away.

Before Town’s return to the County Ground, they had gone more than a month without hearing UB40.

In that time they did not lose and in every fixture dominated the ball and often the scoreline. It begs the question – does playing at home actually make much difference?

As my football-phobic sister often reminds me, essentially football equates to 22 men in a field kicking a bag a wind, so why does it matter where it’s played?

At parks level, a pronounced slope or a muddy bog act as an advantage to a team more used to it – but professional footballers rarely have to deal with such extremes these days.

So far this season, only Crawley have provided a heavy pitch and even that was a green top. Even then, it took a poor refereeing decision to condemn Town to defeat.

The effects of travelling could be used as an excuse, but with the luxury coaches – and on longer trips the odd overnight stop in a hotel – those adversities are reduced to minimal. Especially as Town don’t play in Europe.

Familiarity with the surroundings could be thrown in, but does a cramped changing room really make that much of a difference to a team’s mentality? It should not.

The most obvious difference is the crowd. A hostile home support can create an intimidating atmosphere, but Town’s away following is such that it can temper most home-town backing.

Regardless of crowds, facilities and grass (or lack of), a strong-minded team should be able to focus on matters of the ball, but perhaps within that lies the answer to the question. It’s all in the head.

Rather than focus on the morale-boosting aspect of playing at home perhaps Mark Cooper would be better off getting his team into a state of psychological neutrality to serve them equally home and away.