Four games into the League One season and AFC Wimbledon's defensive record tells two very different stories depending on which ground they happen to be playing on. Manager Johnnie Jackson acknowledged as much after Wednesday's 4-1 defeat at Burton Albion, and said he would "look into" why the Dons have been so porous on their travels yet so solid on their own patch.

The numbers are stark. Two home fixtures, two clean sheets: Reading and Wigan Athletic were both kept out at Plough Lane. Two away fixtures, seven goals conceded: a 3-0 defeat at Huddersfield Town on the opening day was followed by the Burton reverse. That is not a small-sample fluke you can easily wave away, even if four games is four games and any conclusions drawn at this stage come with heavy caveats.

"It's something that I'll have to look at because we've conceded seven away from home and haven't conceded any at home," Jackson told BBC Radio London. "There's obviously a big disparity there and I'm sure there are some underlying reasons behind that, but it's difficult for me to say right this second."

The question, then, is what those underlying reasons might be. Visiting sides almost always face a structural disadvantage: unfamiliar surroundings, a crowd working against them, the natural tendency to sit a little deeper and invite pressure. But a seven-goal gap after just two away trips suggests something more specific is going wrong for Wimbledon.

Jackson did not offer a ready-made diagnosis, and it would be premature to expect one. What he did concede was that his side "got things wrong" at Burton, and that whatever those errors were, they appear to recur when the Dons are away from home in a way they simply do not when they are at Plough Lane. "What is the difference between playing at home and playing here?" he asked, rhetorically. It is precisely the right question at this stage of the season.

One possibility worth examining, though the manager did not spell it out, is that Wimbledon's defensive shape is more vulnerable when they cannot rely on a vocal home support to press opponents high up the pitch. At Plough Lane, the atmosphere may be helping to compress the game; away from home, with the crowd against them, the same pressing triggers might be arriving a fraction late, leaving gaps in behind. That is speculation, and Jackson will have far more granular video evidence to work from than any external observer.

What is less speculative is the urgency. Burton sit in the early-season mix of sides looking upward, and the manner of that 4-1 defeat will have stung. Wimbledon's next away day will come around soon enough, and if the same defensive fragility reappears, the pattern hardens into something harder to dismiss. A home record of two clean sheets from two is a genuine platform; the task now is finding a way to replicate even a fraction of that solidity when the journey involves a motorway rather than a walk to Plough Lane.

Jackson's willingness to ask the question publicly is at least a decent sign. Managers who deflect or reach for excuses rarely fix things quickly. Acknowledging a structural problem, even without an immediate answer, is where the work begins.

Frequently asked

Why has AFC Wimbledon conceded so many goals away from home?
After two away games in League One, AFC Wimbledon have conceded seven goals, losing 3-0 at Huddersfield Town and 4-1 at Burton Albion. Manager Johnnie Jackson says he will look into the underlying reasons behind the disparity with their home form.
How has AFC Wimbledon's home form looked so far this season?
Very solid. The Dons have kept clean sheets in both of their League One home matches so far, against Reading and Wigan Athletic, conceding nothing at Plough Lane.
What did Johnnie Jackson say after the Burton Albion defeat?
Jackson told BBC Radio London that he would look into why there is such a big difference between Wimbledon's home and away defensive performances, admitting there are likely underlying reasons and that his side got things wrong at Burton.