NO current Claret has scored a bigger goal on the international stage than Sam Vokes, and the Wales striker put that experience to good use to give take off to Burnley’s European adventure.

The Clarets found their private plane set to take them to Aberdeen from Manchester Airport on Wednesday grounded due to technical issues, and it looked like being a similarly stuttering start on the pitch at Pittodrie, with the early injury to Nick Pope another blow.

But substitute Vokes, who scored for Wales against Belgium in the Euro 2016 quarter-final, lashed home a stunning leveller in the closing stages.

It was a crucial away goal for the Clarets, who looked to be in a precarious position at 1-0 down with next week’s Turf Moor return to come.

But Vokes’ goal has turned the tie on its head. Now Sean Dyche’s men are in the box seat.

Dyche had been keen to play the down the Battle of Britain element to this tie in the build-up and you could see why, it’s a tag that inspires sides north of the border and the Dons put on a performance to suggest there remains life in Scottish football, with their fans revelling in chants of ‘1-0 to the Sunday league’ while they were ahead, but they couldn’t hold on.

There was certainly a sense of occasion in the air at Pittodrie in the minutes before kick-off.

The 2,000 travelling fans who had got their hands on the rarest of tickets were a sea of Claret, belting out their songs from half an hour before the action got underway.

Most summers the early rounds of the Europa League pass us all by in a blur. Not this time. This was a fast, frenzied game played in front of an atmosphere that could easily have graced the final in Baku in May, never mind the second qualifying round in July.

That trip to Azerbaijan might still be 20 games away, but the Clarets started in the right manner, eventually.

It wasn’t all plain sailing next to the North Sea. Pope only returned to pre-season training on Tuesday, having had just a week off since ending his summer with England, but as he stretched to clear a ball away from Lewis Ferguson he collided with James Tarkowski and was clearly in trouble straight away, eventually leaving the pitch unable to move his shoulder.

Having lost Tom Heaton this week to a calf problem that meant a debut for Anders Lindegaard, whose second touch as a Claret was to pick a penalty out the back of his net.

German referee Daniel Siebert wasted no time in pointing to the spot when Sam Cosgrove clutched his face after an aerial duel with Tarkowski, booking the Claret in the process. It was a decision that looked soft in real time and even softer on replays, but Gary Mackay-Steven sent Lindegaard the wrong way to give Aberdeen the advantage.

While the Clarets were seeing plenty of the ball chances were at a premium and long range efforts from Chris Wood and Johann Berg Gudmundsson were off target.

The threat was coming from wide though and a Gudmundsson cross picked out Jack Cork early in the second half, but his diving header was brilliantly kept out by Lewis.

Lindegaard then made a fine save of his own to tip Mackay-Steven’s header wide.

The introduction of Vokes gave the Clarets another dimension as crosses continued to come in and he proved to be the hero.

Tarkowski’s diagonal ball was won by Wood but there was little on for Vokes as the ball fell him to eight yards out with his back to goal. However, the Welshman brilliantly flicked the ball over his head, turning beyond the Dons defence and volleying past Lewis to get the European tour up and running.