A SWEET victory rounded off a sour week to leave Steve Cotterill with a Chinese meal to savour.

The Clarets boss could have been forgiven for cracking open the champagne after the Clarets ground out their first win since Boxing Day.

Instead, he settled for a quiet take-away with his neighbour to round off what has been a pretty turbulent week.

The relief was almost audible when Cotterill finally pledged his future to the club on Friday.

The speculation surrounding his future has been rife and had Leicester City poached the ambitious young manager, who knows the direction in which Burnley Football Club would have been heading?

Instead, supporters can hopefully now look forward to a period of stability in which Cotterill can continue his rebuilding job at Turf Moor.

And if his first bit of wheeler-dealing since Ade Akinbiyi's departure is a measure of things to come, then there is every reason to feel optimistic about the future.

Michael Ricketts' shock arrival raised many eyebrows around town - just as Akinbiyi's did 12 months ago.

The Leeds United striker has been burdened with the tag of being a 'one cap wonder' ever since he earned a solitary England cap four years ago when his career was in its ascendancy at Bolton.

The nose-dive ever since has been just as dramatic. But from rock bottom, the only way is up and the former Middlesbrough hitman conjured up the one shining moment on an otherwise dull afternoon to show Burnley fans the Premiership class that lies within.

Receiving Micah Hyde's pinpoint pass in the 24th minute, a clever shimmy left a defender for dead and the finish from 12 yards oozed cool authority.

Not a bad way to mark your home debut.

The hope now is that Ricketts can emulate Akinbiyi and re-ignite the flame under Cotterill, who seems to have an unerring ability to pull the best out of players with a hunger in their belly and a point to prove to their knockers.

As his fitness improves, so should his all-round contribution. And while Ricketts may lack the selfless running of Akinbiyi, there is plenty of evidence that his eye for a goal is sharper - with career stats of 73 goals in 156 starts.

Tellingly, Ricketts has started almost as many games on the bench. But at Burnley he seems certain to be a regular starter for the rest of the season as the Clarets look to life without Sheffield United's new £1.75m striker.

The huge blow of losing Akinbiyi has been softened somewhat by that remarkable fee for a striker in his 32nd year.

Four years his younger, Ricketts has proven pedigree and he should undoubtedly bide the club some time as they look to invest that club record fee wisely in the summer.

But for now, it's all about not letting the season fizzle out. And that is why Burnley fans will quickly forget Saturday's poor spectacle and concentrate instead on the welcome return to winning ways.

Argyle have never found Turf Moor the most welcoming of grounds. The last time the Pilgrims bagged any reward for their efforts was in 1977 and Burnley weren't about to let a first win since Boxing Day slip through their grasp once Ricketts had fired them ahead.

Before then, the visitors had the better half chances, with Nick Chadwick a constant thorn in the side.

His sixth minute lob from a tight angle might have caused problems to a smaller goalkeeper than Brian Jensen, but the giant Dane raised an oversized glove to make the first of several crucial saves.

But Ricketts came within a whisker of opening the scoring in the 19th minute, controlling Michael Duff's long throw and spinning to fire the ball across goal and inches wide of the far post.

As it transpired, that was merely a sight-setter for his decisive strike soon after, when the impressive Micah Hyde found him with a peach of a pass.

The goal visibly rocked Argyle, who came into the game with three straight wins behind them.

But strangely, Burnley failed to press home the advantage. And as the half wore on, Plymouth regained the initiative, with Chadwick forcing another smart save from Jensen at his near post after pouncing on Frank Sinclair's mistake.

Lilian Nalis was a whisker away from levelling matters on the stroke of the interval as his fierce shot shaved the right hand post with Jensen beaten.

And as the start of the second half followed the same pattern, Sinclair was mightily lucky to survive a penalty appeal after blatantly pushing Micky Evans in the back challenging for a header.

The pressure slowly mounted throughout the half, although stout defending restricted Argyle to speculative shots.

However, with nine minutes remaining, David Norris found enough room on the edge of the area to force Jensen into the save of the day as the keeper spread his frame to turn the ball for a corner.

And as the nervousness spread throughout the ground, substitute Akos Buzsaky again found the target with a header that Jensen clutched in the nick of time.

The full time whistle, after four nervy minutes of stoppage time, brought a puff of the cheeks and a salute to the stands from Cotterill.

A welcome first win in eight games meant that much.