Even by their own low standards for away matches this season, Plymouth Argyle's performance in the 2-0 defeat by Hull City on Tuesday was a particularly wretched one.

Yes, there have been much heavier losses - 6-1 at Norwich City, 5-0 at Cardiff City and 4-0 at Sheffield Wednesday, Bristol City and Coventry City - but few have felt as dispiriting as the one at the MKM Stadium.

For starters, it came against a Hull side who prior to kick-off had collected the fewest number of points from home matches in the Championship this term, just 13 (two wins and seven draws) from 17 fixtures.

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Argyle had also shown tremendous fight when they played Manchester City in the Emirates FA Cup fifth round tie against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium only three nights earlier.

Anything close to the same level of performance against Hull, in what was always going to be a much more important match because of their battle to escape Championship relegation, would likely have been enough to pick up three precious points.

Their preparation for the match on Humberside had been as good as it could have been. The Pilgrims' squad stayed in the north of England after the FA Cup tie rather than returning to Plymouth for a very brief period and then setting off on their travels again.

Yet, what we saw at the MKM Stadium was a game where Hull, despite clearly being low on confidence playing at home, found the Pilgrims far too easy to beat. They got their 2-0 lead with a couple of goals early in the second half and were content to make sure it stayed that way until the end.

Argyle did not have one shot on target, and just three goal attempts all game. You had to feel for the die-hard members of the Green Army, who made the trip to Hull on a Tuesday night and had such a deflating experience.

Yes, Hull's second goal should have been disallowed for an obvious offside in the build up to it, but I am not sure I am not alone in thinking that the Pilgrims could have played all evening at the MKM Stadium and not scored given their lack of attacking threat.

It is now 20 away Championship games without a win for Argyle, with the first two of those matches coming at the end of the 2023/24 season and then 18 this term.

The last time the Pilgrims picked up maximum points on their travels was a 1-0 defeat of then bottom-of-the-table Rotherham United on April 5, 2024, when Neil Dewsnip and Kevin Nancekivell had just taken temporary charge after the dismissal of Ian Foster.

Since that victory over Rotherham, Argyle have lost 15 out of 20 away Championship matches and drawn the other five. They have scored just six - yes, six - goals and conceded 46. It is a complete embarrassment.

I get that it is hard to win in the Championship. The gulf both between the top teams and the sides towards the bottom of the table, both in terms of playing ability on the pitch and financially, is huge.

There are four teams in the bottom seven with only one away victory each - Oxford United, Cardiff, Luton Town and Derby County - so Argyle are not alone in finding it difficult on the road, but the fact they have only managed to pick up five points is shocking. Confidence - or the lack of it - has to be a key contributing factor.

One of the questions I asked Muslic at his post-match Press conference on Tuesday night was whether this group of Argyle players knew what it took to win an away match. He replied: "I think they know but you have to show it also. Hull City dominated us in every phase of the game."

Historically, the Pilgrims have always tended to fare much better at Home Park than away. The club's location in the far south-west of England, and therefore the amount of travelling to games they have to do, has to have played a big part in that.

Some fans will dispute that. They will say the Argyle team travel in luxury coaches or even catch air flights for long-distance trips, and while that is true travelling can still be a tiring experience no matter how comfortable it is.

It also reduces the amount of quality time that can be spent on the training pitch when Argyle's squad are returning to Plymouth in the early hours of a morning, for example. Time on the training pitch has been something that Muslic has simply not had enough of since he was appointed as head coach because of the intense recent schedule of matches.

It is incredible to think that since Argyle clinched the League One title with a 3-1 win at Port Vale on May 7, 2023 they have had just three away victories in the EFL since then.

Steven Schumacher could not lead them to any before leaving for Stoke City in December 2023. Neither did Wayne Rooney during his short tenure at the start of this season and Muslic is yet to get one either, although there have only been four games on the road under his guidance.

With the exception of that defeat of Rotherham last April, Argyle's only other two away Championship wins since their promotion came during Foster's 14-league game tenure as they beat Swansea City (1-0) and Middlesbrough (2-0), both in February 2024.

The Pilgrims still have to make the trips to Swansea and Middlesbrough among their final five matches on the road this term so maybe that offers some hope and encouragement they can end their long wait for a victory on their travels.

Whether that will be enough to save them from relegation is another matter entirely. Argyle will certainly need to be much more fired up for the challenge than they were at Hull when they play Portsmouth at Fratton Park next Wednesday night to stand any chance of beating them.

Muslic has enough evidence now that what Argyle have been trying to do away from home has not worked and is unlikely to work in the future, so it will be interesting to see if and how his tactical approach to the remaining games on the road changes in an attempt to get some wins and keep alive their Championship survival hopes.

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