Papiss Cisse was fortunate not to be substituted at half-time as Alan Pardew, fearing a second away defeat in four days, made two changes to his lacklustre side.
And it is just as well he kept faith with the striker he suspects is still feeling the effects of surgery on a broken kneecap, for within three minutes of the restart he had pounced to claim a point.
‘That’s why you leave players like Papiss on, because he’s a goalscorer,’ said Pardew, whose side have lost just once in nine games and that at West Ham on Saturday.
‘Papiss is Papiss, he will always sniff a chance out, he’s done that in every game he has ever played for us.’
The Senegal frontman was making his first start since November 1, absent or reduced to cameo roles from the bench in the meantime amid concerns over his fitness.
And on the evidence of his first-half display — in which he lashed one chance horribly over the bar — Cisse was, as suspected, far from his sharpest.
That, though, could be said of every one of his Newcastle team-mates as they entered the break trailing to George Boyd’s 34th-minute blast.
Pardew said: ‘It was hard to watch that first half. They close the game down and make it hard for you.
‘I was pleased to see our fans stayed for the second half, because the last 20 minutes of the first half was tough. I wasn’t angry at half-time, I just felt we lost our verve to get on the ball. Once we did that the pitch and the game opened up. I brought some technical players on and we took risks and got our reward for it.’
The equaliser arrived when Daryl Janmaat centred from the right and Cisse stole in to hook home his fifth goal of the season.
But on a night when temperatures dipped below freezing, it was £12million substitute Remy Cabella who injected the energy and invention his side had previously lacked.
‘The big difference was Cabella, who gave us technical ability,’ said Pardew.
‘You might not expect that of an eight-stone Frenchman on a cold night at Burnley, but he was excellent.
‘That’s good news because we’ve been waiting for him to come alive. He’s been a slow-burner. He took the game by the scruff of the neck. He has to be a David Silva type for us, get on the ball and run the game.’
In the end, a point proved fair for both sides and saw Burnley move out of the relegation zone.
They took a deserved lead when Boyd fired past former school friend Rob Elliot in the Newcastle goal.
Kieran Trippier loaded a ball forward from deep inside his own half, Danny Ings jumped to nod back to the feet of Boyd and he arrowed through bodies and beyond a motionless Elliot from 20 yards.
It could have been two before the break had David Jones, darting into the area, not lashed wide in added-time.
Burnley manager Sean Dyche said: ‘In the first half we were excellent and we had a real big chance before half-time to go in at 2-0.
‘We expected a reaction from them and we gave them that chance. It was a poor goal to concede. Afterwards we had pockets of good play but so did they, they’re a good side.
‘For all of their injuries they did quite well to bring Steven Taylor, Remy Cabella and Emmanuele Riviere on. I wish we had those options.’ He added: ‘We have to turn those “so nearly” games into three points and it’s important we just concentrate on performances rather than the league table.’
Newcastle may well have made it seven wins in eight late on with Cabella particularly impressive.
The sight of their marquee summer signing finally starting to come good at the onset of winter will cheer Pardew before Saturday’s visit of league leaders Chelsea to St James’ Park.
But a fit and firing Cisse is the man he knows can make the difference heading into the festive frenzy.
