YOANN Folly enjoyed his return from the wilderness this weekend.

The Plymouth Argyle midfield man was given his first taste of Coca-Cola Championship football since mid-January this year – and he finished on the winning side.

Folly's selection in the Pilgrims' starting XI at Middlesbrough on Saturday was a surprise. So was, as far as folk outside Plymouth were concerned, Argyle's 1-0 win at the Riverside Stadium.

The Pilgrims spoiled Gordon Strachan's first game as manager of the Teesside team, and Folly played his part with a determined display in midfield. Afterwards, he talked to the Westcountry media about his sudden return to favour.

"It was out of nowhere," the former St Etienne, Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday player admitted. "To people on the outside, it might be a surprise, but I've just been keeping my head down and working hard and waiting for my chance again.

"It has been a long time coming but that's football, I guess," Folly added. "I've just had to be professional and work hard because, some time, your chance is going to come and you have to take it.

"It has been really frustrating, not playing, but then you step away from football and you look at the rest of the world and you realise you're not doing too bad a job. I just took it in my stride and waited for my chance."

Asked about Saturday's contest at the Riverside, Folly replied: "I thought it was going to be a tough game, especially away from home, and I was right, but we worked really hard together and we were in good shape."

The Togo international revealed that the Pilgrims had reaped the reward of travelling to Middlesbrough in a positive frame of mind. "We've come here with quality players in our team and we wanted to think about us and not about the other team," he said. "We wanted to do what we're good at, which is keeping our shape and counter- attacking, and it worked."

Argyle manager Paul Sturrock disclosed that Folly had been given his opportunity in the senior side after impressing the Pilgrims' coaching staff in training and in reserve-team action.

Sturrock had seen Folly at his best when both men were employed by other clubs. The former Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday boss said: "I've always known there's a footballer in Yoann, but he hasn't shown it on a regular occurrence. For the last couple of weeks, he's been very much the Yoann of old, so I took the chance. I thought he was excellent.

"I thought the freshness [in the team] was needed, and I think he had proved to me that he merited the chance," the Scotsman added. "It was a big chance to take, because he hasn't been involved and we've been trying to move him on, but now he has staked a claim and I hope he'll take it with both hands."