ASKING Graham Branch to recall the highlights of over six years at Burnley requires patience.

Promotion, scoring crucial goals to stave off the threat of relegation and even having a fans' website devoted to him all head a lengthy list.

Ask for the low point and the short answer spews from his lips quicker than you can say 'centre half'.

In hindsight, Branch now realises he should have expressed his concern when former Burnley manager Stan Ternent asked him to play at the heart of the defence against Preston in April 2003.

It was a false dawn to a miserable spell that turned a fickle minority of Burnley supporters against him and brought all the insecurities that blighted his early career screaming back to the surface.

Branch recalled: "In training I always played centre back against Gareth Taylor and felt I did okay.

"Then, against Preston, Stan announced the team with me at centre back and again I felt I played well against Richard Cresswell and did okay in the final half a dozen games that season.

"However, the season after he put me in there again and it backfired badly."

Burnley suffered a nightmare defensively in a forgettable 2003/04 campaign - Ternent's last as manager - conceding 77 league goals to add to the 89 shipped the previous season.

"Stan felt that my instincts might help, but I just felt out of my depth," insisted Branch.

"I didn't know where I was on the pitch and I was miles off the pace. I thought centre back was easy but it's not because of the concentration levels needed.

"In a lot of the games, I felt I played well but made one bad mistake and got punished for it. It happened so often that I felt like a total jinx and I think a few of the old insecurities that I'd had early in my career came back to haunt me."

Branch, who has now played in every outfield position at Burnley but right full back, has always seen his ability to slot into several positions as a double-edged sword.

He explained: "I don't feel it's helped because if I was stuck in one specialised position, I feel I might have done better in my career. Different positions involve different angles, nothing is second nature and you are always having to adapt.

"However, with the size of squads nowadays, you will always get a game somewhere if you can play in four or five positions. I am 33 now and I suppose I should feel lucky I can play in so many positions.

"There are a lot of players my age who are struggling to find clubs, whereas I have never had any serious injuries, stayed reasonably fit and still have my pace.

"All those add to the package and hopefully I can still play for a good few years yet because I know I still have a lot to give.

"The gaffer (Steve Cotterill) has belief in me and I'm hoping that because I didn't come into the game until late, I can extend my career.

"I still get the aches and pains but generally I feel fitter and stronger, both mentally and physically, than I ever have and I reckon I can still get another five or six years yet."

The future starts right here as Branch and his Burnley team mates return to Gawthorpe on Friday for the annual slog of pre-season training. Burnley's longest serving player has emerged from several tunnels of despair into the light of what he now sees as a bright future under Cotterill's steer.

And away from Turf Moor, the sleepless nights are no longer from worry, but from the wails of 13 week-old Leo as he and partner Angela throw themselves into the joys of parenthood.

He said: "I never thought I would settled down with a kid, but fatherhood is amazing and Leo's smile melts me. In fact, everything is going very well.

"I was particularly worried when the gaffer arrived because of my past record of not getting on with managers. But along with Stan, he is the best manager I've worked with by a mile.

"He is very family orientated and looks after you in every way, on and off the pitch. Maybe the time had come for a new manager and he has given the club a fresh impetus.

"But more than that, he has a lot of faith in me. I had a few personal problems that flowed into my football last season and I found it hard for a while.

"Again, some fans got on my back, but the gaffer was magnificent, all the problems slowly got sorted out and towards the end of the season my football got back to the level I know I am capable of.

"Now I'm happy and it seems the fans are right behind me again. I've had so many letters of support through a website someone set up (www.specialbranch.iceglow.com/) and I can't believe it.

It's been absolutely amazing and I aim to reply to every one when I get the chance, although that isn't easy with a young son!"