CAMERON Brannagan is focused on one thing after staying at Oxford United despite higher-division interest.

The midfielder’s future was up in the air late in the transfer window amid interest from Sky Bet Championship side Blackpool, with the U’s turning down a significant bid.

But Brannagan insists he is determined to make it third time lucky with United, having experienced play-off heartache in each of the last two seasons.

The 25-year-old said: “I had a conversation with the manager and obviously that stays between us.

“I wanted to stay and be successful with this team, we’ve been so close and it’s been frustrating.

“Hopefully we can go one further and get over that line.

“We’ve been so close and it burns inside me, because you want to get to that next level so bad.

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“I know everybody else does.

“We’ve started better this season and hopefully we can keep winning.”

Brannagan’s future was United fans’ No 1 concern on deadline day and there were several social media posts begging him to stay.

“I saw quite a few things that made me giggle, but I had to be quiet,” he said.

“I have a good connection with the fans and they know how much I love playing here.

“I know they love me being here too.

“Once we had the conversation, I knew straight away that my only focus is to get promoted with this side.”

Brannagan joined the U’s from Liverpool in January 2018 and has been a key figure in successive runs to the Sky Bet League One play-offs.

The first of those saw United beaten by Wycombe Wanderers in the 2019/20 Wembley final and the sides meet for the first time since at the Kassam Stadium tomorrow.

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Brannagan missed the last three months of last year with a rare eye infection, but recovered to feature in every single game of 2020/21 from January 2 onwards.

He said: “When I came back from the eye, my body was a disgrace to be honest.

“The way I feel now is completely different.”

Brannagan has been in excellent form in the early weeks of the season, after returning to a more advanced midfield role.

He reached 150 U’s appearances in the 3-1 win over Lincoln City a fortnight ago, but reckons he should have more than 16 goals to his name.

Brannagan said: “I’m enjoying playing higher.

“I like to be involved and I can press people the way I want and hopefully score a few more goals.

“I’ve been getting in the right positions, but I’ve not got that cutting edge at the minute.

“I’ve got one (goal), but I feel like I should’ve had a few more.

“I’ll keep practicing and keep getting in the areas and hopefully they’ll start to hit the net.”