Albion have the best away support in the Championship.

Fans travel in numbers and make a lot of noise.

More than 7,000 made the relatively short journey to Milton Keynes on Saturday to witness another crucial three points in the push for automatic promotion.

It was a one-off in terms of scale, but symptomatic of the away backing all season for Chris Hughton's team in a division dominated by long trips north.

Now it is time for the Amex crowd to do their bit, to turn out in force and crank up the volume.

Albion's next game at home to Burnley is the second-biggest in the club's five seasons at the stadium. Only the second leg of the play-offs against Crystal Palace three seasons ago ranks higher.

The ground should be packed. Burnley fans will be inconvenienced by the 12.30pm kick-off for live coverage by Sky. There is no excuse for Albion's home supporters.

The attendance for the last home game against Reading a week ago, 23,418, was poor, the fourth lowest of season. The worst three, against Blackburn, Rotherham and Bristol City, were in August, September and October, when Albion's capacity to mount a challenge off the back of a relegation struggle was still unproven.

The match was rearranged twice and the Reading attendance was a pathetic 299, but that is only part of the story.

The gate against Sheffield Wednesday a week earlier of 26,128 was a little misleading, due to a cut-price ticket offer.

A more valid comparison is the game before, on a Monday evening against Leeds.

That one was on TV and yet against Reading, which was not in front of the cameras, the Albion share of the attendance actually went down by around 500.

Pointing out the disappointing gate on Twitter prompted a range of excuses about why the figure was so low.

Three midweek matches in a row, rescheduling of the fixture, unattractive opposition, travel, work and parental issues.

Some are more valid than others. Away fans will appreciate, for example, the Amex is far more transport and queue-friendly than many other grounds up and down the country.

White Hart Lane, Upton Park, the Madejski Stadium, the Britannia Stadium, Stadium mk - where the nearest train station is a 25-minute walk - I could go on and on.

One or two made an irrelevant link to Hull's attendance the same evening of less than 16,000 for Nottingham Forest's visit. Irrelevant, because Hull fans have tasted the Premier League. For them the Championship represents a fall.

There is no better reason to resist from grumbling and overcome the inconveniences than the ride Hughton's team is taking supporters on. These are extraordinary times in the club's history.

They have only ever been in the top flight of English football for four seasons. They are in their best position now to try to achieve that goal since 1979, with a spanking stadium to boot.

Lunchtime kick-offs are not normally conducive to a loud crowd. That should change against Burnley.

All the fingers of both hands are not needed to recall the number of occasions the atmosphere has really crackled at the Amex. Far fewer Burnley fans make far more noise at Turf Moor.

The best example of home support is the most painful of all for an Albion fan, Palace at Selhurst Park.

If that and a team pushing for promotion and providing value-for-money (13 home wins from 19, 28 goals scored) does not motivate Albion fans at the Amex then nothing will.

Ask any player, it really can make a difference, especially in periods of a game when the opposition are threatening.

Like the nervy last ten minutes against Reading, holding onto a slender lead, when many had already abandoned their seats to make their way home.

Albion have four massive matches left at the Amex, midweek encounters against Fulham, QPR and Derby to come after Burnley.

Chris Hughton's team have delivered all season. Now supporters at the Amex need to deliver, to be their 12th man.