ONE of the major targets set by Ernie Howe at the start of the season was for Basingstoke Town to improve their home record.

After a poor 2003-2004 campaign at the Camrose - they lost 14 games in all competitions - Howe knew it would be vital they made amends in the Nationwide South.

And they have done it, for good home form has been the reason behind Town's high league placing.

Until runaway leaders Grays beat them 3-0 earlier this month, Howe's men shared the best home record with the full-time Essex outfit.

As things stand now, after 27 games, Town enjoy the second best statistics, with nine wins, one draw and only three losses.

But it is their away form that is threatening to undo all the work so far achieved. Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Carshalton was Town's seventh away loss so far - and by way of contrast, they only lost nine games on their travels last season.

Such a reversal of fortune is a factor Howe knows must stop if the club are to regain the form needed to get them back in the play-off places.

They dropped outside the top five for the first time this season on Saturday, after a display lambasted by Howe.

But, as well as redoubling efforts to bring in fresh blood to turn things around, he is hoping his chastised players will respond in the right way to their tongue-lashing.

Another area key to a Town revival is to increase forward potency, for the strike-rate has eased considerably in the recent lean spell of one point from 12.

Individual defensive errors are being punished, but the strikers are not firing on all cylinders and a return to plundering ways is needed.

Martin Whiddett's ongoing struggle with a groin injury has limited his appearances, leaving Neville Roach and Cristian Levis as a front pairing. But, in a struggling period, they are having to retreat too deep to instigate, rather than get on the end of, what's being created.

The statistics show that Whiddett has scored nine goals in 24 appearances and Levis has nine goals from 20 appearances, while Roach has 12 goals from 23 appearances.

Roach last found the net with a tap-in against Farnborough in the 2-1 Hampshire Cup win, and it was his first goal in a month, while Levis hasn't scored since November, against Bognor. Whiddett's last goal was versus Hornchurch in December.