IF actions speak louder than words, Andy Gray and Clarke Carlisle's contributions at Ashton Gate would have been deafening.

Had circumstances been different, neither of them could have even been on the pitch at the time of their impact.

In fact, the Burnley manager Steve Cotterill felt Gray shouldn't even have started the game after missing a week's training with a foot infection that had left him with severe swelling.

It was only the striker's sheer determination to put on the shirt for his 50th league appearance for Burnley that prevented a no-show against Bristol City.

Carlisle, meanwhile, had endured a shaky opening. So much so that Cotterill claimed afterwards that, based on the first 10 minutes, he would have taken him off.

In the end, the Clarets boss was glad, and perhaps relieved, to have had the services of both of them on Saturday afternoon as Gray gave Burnley a head start, while Carlisle, who had defused a potential half-time showdown with his manager by apologising for his early defensive misdemeanours, crafted a last-gasp equailiser in spectacular fashion.

"I'll remember Clarke Carlisle today for the last five minutes rather than the first five minutes," said Cotterill, after seeing his defender leap acrobatically from close range and stun the Bristol City backline with his overhead kick.

"I don't want to praise him too much today. It was pretty good that he came in very quick at half-time and swiftly gave me an apology. It was a good decision by him, because we might have wasted a bit of half-time.

"I think Clarke has been fantastic since he's been here, however, in the first 10 minutes I'd have liked to have taken him off!"

Carlisle's stunning finish deep into stoppage will, he says, go down as one of his best goals of his career.

"If you discount school football," he smiled.

He may also look back on it, come the end of the season, as one of his most crucial.

Burnley had kept the Robins at arms' length for long periods after Gray had fired the Clarets in front seven minutes into the second half, livening up a game that, up until half-time, had been almost painful to watch.

But they were rocked by substitute Darren Byfield's quickfire double.

After putting themselves in a good position to end Bristol City's unbeaten start to to the season, Burnley were in danger of slipping to a second defeat so far, the first of which had also come against Championship newboys, when Scunthorpe hosted their first game last month.

A week earlier, Blackpool manager Simon Grayson had described how his players' ability to snatch a point at Turf Moor was largely down to not knowing when they were beaten.

Similarly, Burnley failed to give up at Ashton Gate.

Just as Bristol had got their rewards for a period of sustained pressure in going 2-1 up, Cotterill's men benefited from their persistance right to the wire.

Wade Elliott, who had played a significant role in the opener, as Gray snapped up the rebound after the winger had struck the base of the post, had a hand in the second also.

His late corner was knocked on at the far post, Ade Akinbiyi missed having a chance of his own but looped the ball up towards the left hand post, were Carlisle jumped high, flipped over, flung his right leg in the air and hammered the ball into the net.

Now they knew how Blackpool had felt seven days before, and were in a position to realistically empathise with their current opponents, who were kept out on the pitch while manager Gary Johnson urged them to take heart from the fact they are still unbeaten.

On the balance of play, a draw was probably a fair result. Going into the break goalless was certainly a fair reflection of a tepid first half, where chances were sparce in a cagey opening.

Just as the Clarets were trying to make inroads, after a good build-up down the left ended with Chris McCann picking the ball up 20 yards out, Burnley were forced into their first change as the midfielder collapsed after a block tackle, clutched his right hamstring and subsequently left the field on a stretcher.

McCann had marshalled Marvin Elliott well in central midfield, and without the Dubliner breathing down his neck Elliott had the first real chance for the Robins, heading Jamie McAllister's high left wing delivery just wide of the far post.

Wade Elliott caused confusion at the opposite end when Bradley Orr needlessly intercepted a cross that goalkeeper Adriano Basso looked to have covered, but the ball wouldn't break for substitute Joey Gudjonsson, eager for a chance on the edge of the box.

Lee Johnson had a shot blocked out by Steven Caldwell and Gabor Kiraly made a good save to deny Michael McIndoe, diving to his left to deny the wide man as he met Brian Wilson's cross with a firm header.

Both sides made changes at the start of the second half, with Byfield replacing Wilson, while John Spicer came on for Kyle Lafferty to make his 50th league appearance for the Clarets. Elliott switched over to the left wing to accommodate Spicer on the right. And Burnley were first to benefit from their transition. Robbie Blake controlled a throw-in just inside the area and beat two defenders as he twisted and put a cross over. The ball looped over the head of Carlisle but dropped nicely for Elliott. His left-foot shot rebounded off the base of the post and into the path of an unmarked Gray, who duly took his tally to six goals in seven starts.

He was unlucky not to get a second five minutes later, hooking the ball over the bar after Blake had a shot deflected. Gudjonsson then went close with a low, long-range strike.

But Byfield was beginning to find his feet in attack and it needed a superb tackle from Caldwell on the edge of the box to keep him at bay. But not for long. Burnley failed to deal with a long throw from the right, a sliced clearance was controlled by McIndoe on the left and Byfield punished his cross with a header past Kiraly.

Panic set into the Clarets backline as they struggled to clear a corner, despite numerous attempts, and City seized on their uncertainty two minutes later as Bradley Orr's 18-yard shot was well parried by Kiraly, but only into the path of Byfield, who finished well.

Time was running out, but Burnley weren't prepared to surrender.

In the last of three minutes of stoppage time, Elliott swung a corner over to the far post, Akinbiyi, who had received a standing ovation from the fans he had once delighted with 25 goals in 53 games before becoming the club's record sale, helped to silence the Ashton Gate crowd.

Missing the chance to shoot himself, he looped the ball up for Carlisle to endorse his half-time apology with a fabulous finish.