GARRETH O'Connor offered Burnley fans a tantalising glimpse into the future in Abtenau last night.

The former Bournemouth midfielder arrived at Turf Moor vowing to carry on where he left off at Dean Court, where he registered a career best 14 goals last season.

And true to his word, the Dubliner wasted little time opening his account for the Clarets to get their Austrian tour off to a terrific start.

Burnley were trailing to an early goal from Salonika - the first time Steve Cotterill's rock solid defence had been breached in four pre-season games.

But against a well-organised team finishing fifth in the Greek top flight last season to earn qualification for the UEFA Cup, the character and spirit this trip has helped to instil was evident in a gritty second half fightback.

And when Wade Elliott, who again caught the eye hugging the right touchline, crossed deep into the penalty area 12 minutes after the restart, former Cherries team mate O'Connor effortlessly stroked the equaliser into an empty net after Canadian goalkeeper Daniel Fernandes' misjudged the flight.

As the game unfolded, the more Burnley looked capable of snatching a winner, with twin strikers Ade Akinbiyi and Gifton Noel-Williams posing problems.

Unfortunately, the clear-cut chance they were craving never arrived, but Burnley can still take great heart from a lung-busting work-out at altitude.

"We showed great character because we were 1,300 feet above sea level and we're only about 100 feet at home," said Cotterill.

"We've come another 750 metres higher than we've acclimatised at for the past couple of days and we soon found the air is tighter here.

"We were probably only taking in 50 per cent of the oxygen than under normal circumstances, but I thought we were excellent at the end and if one side was going to win, I felt it would be us."

Burnley's healthy support - around half of the boisterous 500-plus crowd - had little to cheer in the opening half.

Michael Duff picked up a knock to the knee in the early stages and while he was still recovering, Salonika opened the scoring.

The pacy Marcin Mieciel took full advantage of Duff's immobility to race onto a long kick from Fernandes and slide the ball through Brian Jensen's legs from the tightest of angles.

Struggling Duff soon gave way for Elliott, with Frank Sinclair switching sides to cover and Graham Branch dropping to left back.

But the only real chance that fell the Clarets' way following the reshuffle was a James O'Connor snapshot that rattled the outside of the woodwork.

The Greeks, with a handful of internationals in their starting line-up, made numerous changes after the break.

But it still needed a last ditch tackle from the immaculate John McGreal and a smart save from Jensen to keep Burnley within touching distance.

Russian trialist Vladimir But showed several nice touches, but couldn't quite provide the spark from midfield.

And it was left to the Bournemouth connection to pay dividends just before the hour mark.

O'Connor had just wasted the best chance of the game, curling the ball wide with just Fernandes to beat after Noel-Williams had supplied the killer ball.

But the attack-minded midfielder soon made up for that with a killer touch of his own.

The odds are it will be the first of many.

BURNLEY: Jensen, Duff (Elliott 20), Thomas, McGreal, Sinclair, G O'Connor, But (McCann 79), J O'Connor, Branch, Akinbiyi, Noel-Williams (Lafferty 82). Not used: Coyne.

PAOK (starting): Fernandes, Feutchine, Mieciel, Udeze, Andralas, Yiasoumi, Zografakis, Koutsopoulos, Malezas, Balafas, Chasiotios.