KEITH Branagan has suffered another injury setback - just when he thought he was back in the swing.

The Wanderers' No 1, who missed the first 15 games of the season with knee damage, was having surgery today to clear a groin problem and faces another long lay-off.

It's a bitter blow for Wanderers and for the player after he appeared to be over the worst and back to his best when he returned to first team action against Watford last month.

But there was cause for concern during the Worthington Cup win at Norwich, where he suffered discomfort at the back of his knee, and his non-appearance against Port Vale last week was a clear sign that all was not well.

He has since seen a specialist and been told he needs the operation which will keep him out for between 10 and twelve weeks.

Colin Todd, who already has defender Mark Fish (groin) and Ricardo Gardner (hamstring) unavailable for tomorrow night's fourth round Worthington Cup tie at home to Wimbledon, is resigned to being without his first choice keeper for some weeks.

But the Wanderers boss is confident Jussi Jaaskelainen can fill the breach.

Far from being critical of the young Finland international, who was on the losing side for the first time as a Bolton player in Saturday's 2-0 defeat at QPR, he was supportive and encouraging.

"Jussi's done exceptionally well for us," Todd said. "I've got no problems with him.

"He's played most of the games this season anyway."

And he justifiably refused to apportion blame on the keeper for the Kevin Gallen goal that gave Rangers a fourth minute lead, explaining: "It's unfair to blame Jussi when the ball has been hit with so much venom. It went right in the stanchion. If anyone's suggesting Jussi was to blame for that, then you could say the Port Vale keeper was to blame for Bob Taylor's goal last week - and he obviously wasn't."

With Wanderers slipping back to 12th in the table after their fourth defeat in five games, Todd says it was now up to him to inspire a much-needed recovery. And he has publicly conceded there will be no repeat of the 1996-97 runaway title triumph - at least not by his side, who have already lost as many games as they did in that record-breaking season

"I've got to give the team more resolve and resilience," he said.

"Nobody said it was going to be easy, apart from the media who said it was between Sunderland and ourselves.

"I think Sunderland will do what we did last time we were in the Nationwide League while we have got to earn the right and make it difficult for other teams."

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