The rockier than expected first half to the league season may have left everybody at Bray Wanderers just that little bit more on edge ahead of this evening's visit to Richmond Park but Bray player and assistant manager Paul Keegan is in relaxed form as he contemplates returning to the club where he started his senior career a decade ago.

Brian Kerr was running things then and while Keegan never made it beyond the club's reserves he still credits his time at the club as having taught him much that proved useful over the years that followed. One of those he played with in the team was Pat Dolan, a defender by trade in those days but an occasional striking partner for Keegan nevertheless. And then there was Stephen Kenny, the team's left back who, like Dolan, arrived at the conclusion, earlier than most, that coaching rather than playing was where his future lay.

Keegan, now 28 and already Pat Devlin's assistant at the Carlisle Grounds, has had his eye on joining his former team-mates in the management game for some time now. When the Dubliner turned down Bohemians earlier this season in order to return to the Carlisle Grounds, many onlookers felt that his current job description was no more than a mechanism by Devlin to match the wages on offer from Dalymount.

Having had a couple of good spells with Wanderers already, though, Keegan insists it was a matter of loyalty. "They've always treated me well," he says, "and the chance to learn a bit more about the management side of the game was a big factor, too."

With his level two coaching badge already under his belt, Keegan narrowly missed out on the opportunity to obtain the internationally-prestigious level three because of his delayed return from the United States, where he had had treatment for a cruciate ligament.

"Even after getting back training sooner than I was really supposed to I didn't get back to Ireland in time to take the course. It's a pity because with being involved in training the few full-time lads out in Bray I feel I'm getting a lot of experience. Pat has a lot of good lads out there helping him too so I'm in a good position to learn from everybody around me."

From Bray's point of view the flip side is that his pursuit of the qualification, which he says would provide a great many long-term opportunities in America, may keep him in Ireland for the foreseeable future. "I'm very happy here at the moment," he says, "and it's great to get to spend some time with my family.

"I plan to head back to the States next summer as it stands but I'd prefer to get the badge from here, I think it would be worth more, and the Americans like the fact that they get coaches who are bringing in different ideas and ways of doing things from Europe, South America, all over the place. So, I suppose if things work out I'd be happy enough if I ended up here for the next couple of years."

His presence would certainly be a bonus to Wanderers, whose Cup run last season ended just a week after Keegan picked up his serious injury in the rough and tumble of a visit to Shelbourne.

Since returning this season he's been getting used all over again to dealing with the methods employed by the league's centre halves, but, he says, it's all starting to come naturally to him again.

The four goals he has scored only hint at the contribution he has made on the pitch for the club, though. Keegan is probably the best in the league at holding the ball up and creating opportunities for those around him and as both he and Bray get back to their best the Cup may, once again, have come at just the right time for Devlin and co.

"Pat would disagree but I don't think I've got back to 100 per cent yet. But I'm getting there and the whole team has been improving over the last few weeks. The problem up until then was that too many players were playing poorly at any one time. Now, it's more like last season when we pulled together more like a team and if somebody had an off day the rest carried him."

The improvement will be needed this evening at Richmond, he concedes, for Bray have lost twice already to St Patrick's Athletic and defeat this evening would leave the club with avoiding relegation as the only real target over the last third of the season.

Keegan reckons, though, that the way the team is playing just now the reunion with his old striking partner might end up providing him with a few more happy memories.