KEITH Branagan will have mixed emotions when he returns to the Reebok tomorrow. A Wanderer no more, there's bound to be a lump in his throat as he heads for the visitors' changing rooms for the first time.

But he will also draw consolation and take a fair portion of pride in having done his bit to raise the profile of the club he joined in the days when crowds of 5,000 turned up at Burnden Park to watch Third Division football.

And, although in the 'enemy' camp as the play-offs get under way, he will take particular interest in the performance of Jussi Jaaskelainen - the man who has picked up where he left off and for whom he is predicting a bright and successful future.

"The lad who has taken my jersey is not bad," Branagan said in a deliberately understated tribute to the young Finn with whom he has worked closely in the two and a half years since Wanderers signed him for £300,000 - a deal that left Norwich boss fuming that he'd been gazumped.

"I'd like to think I've been a help there in some way." He's been here a couple of years now and he's still learning his game. Last year his ability was ready but I think the pressure side of it was a shock to him.

"This year he has coped much better and he's looking like he is going to be a very, very good goalkeeper and a major asset to the club

"I'm happy to have worked with him over the two years he's been here. Also the back up's not bad (Steve Banks). I wouldn't be unhappy at all with the goalkeeping set up here - what with Matty Glennon coming through as well.

"The club's in a great position for goalkeepers." Indeed, Branagan believes Wanderers are in a far better state today than they were when he arrived in the summer of 1992 and, although modest by nature, he believes he and others who helped the club to success on the field have made a significant contribution to that progress.

But there is no sentiment in football and, despite admitting that the circumstances of his departure came as a shock, he is now a fully-fledged Ipswich player and, as such, is pledged to do all he can to see them through.

"I've just go to get on with my life. I've got bills to pay and a family to look after so I'll get my head down and do what I can do, what I've always done, which is play football."

A succession of player of the year awards are a testimony to the quality and consistency Branagan has produced to establish himself as one of the best value signings Wanderers have ever made.

He has produced countless cruscial saves but one of the most memorable and most important came in the 1995 play-off final against Reding when he saved Stuart Lovell's penalty to prevent Wanderers going 3-0 down! It was the inspiration for a dramatic comeback that secured a place in the Premiership.

Such experiences have taught Branagan that the play-offs - whoever is involved, can be too close to call.

"They are never a reflection of the form tables," he says.

"They are very very tight - and it's literally just a case of who takes their chances. Both teams are going to get chances - you might only get two or three a game - but it's who puts them away.

"Form tables go out of the window." Branagan is in the uneviable position of not knowing where his future will lie once the play-offs are over. He certainly won't be a Bolton player and it depends on whether the Suffolk club can keep their highly-rated young keeper Richard Wright happy at Portman Road. If the young England man is sold, Branagan could be offered the No 1 shirt but there are other clubs, some nearer 'home' including Tranmere, who have shown an interest.

"I've got clubs interested," he confirmed, "and now the season is coming to an end they are in a position to show just how interested they are. There's also the Ipswich thing. They ared interested but they want to see where they stand. That could be a matter of waiting to hear what happens with Richard Wright.

"It's what he decides that will determine whether they're looking for a No 1.

"But I'd like to stay in this area if I can. Two of my children were born in Bolton and we are very happy here. We'll just have to wait and see."