THEY say these things come in threes.

The absence of injured club captain Tom Heaton, out with a calf injury picked up at Preston was a blow. Strike one.

Step forward Nick Pope. England international and fresh out of the Three Lions’ World Cup squad.

His Burnley return lasted just 14 minutes before he was forced off, visibly in pain, with a shoulder injury. Strike two.

Ten minutes later Aberdeen had the lead. A soft decision went against James Tarkowski in the box and Gary Mackay-Steven stroked home the spot kick. Strike three.

Welcome to Europe. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

But this is Burnley. And this Claret vintage have passed pretty much every hurdle under Sean Dyche.

They raised themselves from the canvas after a first half where they were second best.

Much improved after the break they just needed a spark to unlock the organised Dons defence.

Cometh Sam Vokes. The Welshman arrived midway through the second half and found a leveller 10 minutes from time.

Burnley on home Turf can be a force to be reckoned with.

The Clarets fans can play their part, they travelled north in numbers, packed out the away end and made the most of their first European experience in more than 50 years.

Burnley defied the odds in the Premier League and earned the right to take centre stage at the start of the club’s season.

Dyche spent the week insisting the tie was nothing more than another game.

In Burnley it most certainly was, in the streets of Aberdeen before kick off it definitely was.

Fans had travelled in their thousands, they had decked the city centre square in Claret. The sun was shining, the Burnley flags were fluttering and the beers were flowing. These are days that don’t come around too often.

Aberdeen might not have been the far flung destination that many supporters wanted when the draw was made, but in the July sunshine you could be forgiven for thinking you were in southern Europe, not the east of Scotland.

The Clarets fans made plenty of noise early on in a crackling atmosphere that showed just how much this game meant to both sides. No-one mocking the Europa League here.

The game was a breathless affair and a tale of two halves. Burnley were stung by their early misfortune, they survived a first 45 minutes where the Dons had much the better of it. The second period was a different story, a story we are used to. Resilience brought reward when Vokes levelled.

In the Granite City, Burnley showed they’re made of strong stuff.