Richard Dunne used to clean the toilets at Everton – now he hopes to flush QPR’s away-day blues down the pan.

The 35-year-old defender came through the ranks at Goodison Park and played more than 70 times for the club before joining Manchester City more than a decade ago.

Harry Redknapp’s Hoops head to Merseyside tonight on the back of a nightmare run of seven away defeats in a row.

But Dunne hopes they can finally cure their travel sickness as he bids to get one over on his old employers.

Back where it all started: Dunne in action during his Everton days

He said: “I have fond memories of being there, so it’s always nice to go back. They gave me the break and I’ll always be thankful for that.

"I was there from 16 until 20. Tony Hibbert and Leon Osman were in the same youth team as me coming through. I did all the old YTS stuff, like cleaning the boots and cleaning the toilets. That was all part of our learning.

"I had a great time living there and enjoyed my time at the club, but I’ll be hoping to turn them over. It’s about time we started picking things up on the road.”

QPR have the worst away record in the top flight and suffered more misery on their travels when they were dumped out of the Capital One Cup by Burton back in August.

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Dunne is sure they can silence the critics and clinch their first away points of the season to boost their survival bid.

He added: “People keep telling us where we are in the table and how bad our away form is. The game’s on the TV as well and we want to make sure people aren’t doubting us as a team.

“I have no idea why it is so bad. We’ve not managed to get that first goal and have had nothing to hang on to. If we could do that, it would raise the belief in the squad.

“Once we go behind and try to go at them we leave ourselves open to get done on the counter attack.”