BURNLEY captain Tom Heaton paid tribute to the travelling Clarets who roared their side on in defeat at Watford on Saturday.

A second half performance full of character brought a standing ovation from the away end at Vicarage Road and Burnley fell just short of coming from two goals down with 10 man to claim an unlikely point.

Jeff Hendrick's sending off after just six minutes had left the Clarets with plenty to do before the Hornets struck twice in the first half. But the visitors rallied in the final 45 minutes and forced a nervy finale when Ashley Barnes scored.

"Under tough circumstances the performance was excellent," said Heaton.

"The travelling support was right behind us and with that ovation at the end I think they can smell and feel the effort that the lads are putting in with how close we've gone. A big shout out to them because they've been another big help today on that journey that we're on together. We gave it a right go."

Heaton joined the queue of players and staff praising Burnley's character as they fought back in the second half and the 30-year-old believes it is something that distinguishes them from most other top flight sides.

"That's the sort of thing that you need to rely on," he said. "I don't think there are many teams in the Premier League that could do it as well as that.

"We should be proud of that, albeit we need to make sure that we start picking up results.

"Days like Saturday are a shining example of it. With that said it still remains that we haven't won away from home and that's the next marker for us."

The trip to Watford saw second half debuts for deadline day signings Robbie Brady and Ashley Westwood, who came on as substitutes.

And Heaton said the pair have already been surprised at the work rate of their new colleagues.

"As ever the togetherness and unity that we've got - even the new lads that came in today mentioned that they couldn't believe the work rate - saw us through," he said.

"We've given it a right go and on a different day we'd have gone away with a point. We're proud of that."