Jon Stead has no intention of celebrating should he be fortunate enough to score on his Bristol City debut against Ipswich Town tomorrow.

In one of those delicious ironies that abound in professional sport, the 6ft 3in striker returns to Portman Road less than a week after leaving to throw in his lot with the Robins.

Having led the Town attack at Crystal Palace last Saturday, he is now charged with the task of breaching the Ipswich defence and inflicting a first defeat of the season upon his former boss, Roy Keane.

Unlike others who have departed that particular corner of East Anglia in recent times, Stead insists he has no truck with Keane, who effectively called time on the Yorkshireman's Ipswich career when transfer-listing him during the close season.

Not only did he manage to leave on good terms with the fiery Irishman, he is also held in high esteem by a majority of Town fans, many of whom were sorry to see him go.

"I'll be happy if I score a goal, don't get me wrong," admits the personable striker, who launched his career at Huddersfield before moving to Premier League clubs Blackburn and Sunderland.

"But I won't go crazy or anything like that. There will be no celebration."

If anyone should doubt Stead's word, they need only recall events at Brammall Lane in January 2007 to realise he is in deadly earnest.

When he scored a Premier League goal for new club Sheffield United against Blackburn Rovers, his muted celebration further endeared him to supporters of the Lancashire club.

"It's a case of being respectful," he says. "I had a good relationship with the Blackburn fans and it's the same with Ipswich.

"I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and the fans were great to me. They got behind me and backed me, even when I wasn't playing well, and that's something I'll always remember.

"I certainly won't be rubbing it in if I score on Saturday."

It seems players necessarily have a point to prove whenever they return to a former club with a new employer, but Stead is not among their ranks.

Rather than proving a point to Keane, he is more intent upon proving a point to himself.

"I definitely don't have anything to prove to the manager at Ipswich," insists Stead. "I understand the reasons for me having to leave. He wanted to bring in new players and we parted on good terms, which is nice. I'm more concerned with doing a good job for Bristol City and putting my career back on track.

"I've had quite a lot of clubs in the last few years and I've been in and out of sides for a long time. I cannot blame that on the managers concerned, because it has probably been down to me.

"Inconsistency has been my biggest enemy and I think that explains why I did not play every week at Ipswich. I would play three or four games and then have a bad one and be out.

"While that was frustrating at the time, I realise I was not entirely blameless. I've come to Bristol City to settle down, find some sort of stability and, hopefully, play well in the first team most weeks.

"I owe it to myself to give this move my best shot and prove what I can do in the Championship. Of course, everyone wants to play in the Premier League and I'm no different.

"Bristol City is a stable, well-run club with an excellent chairman and good management and good players. I'd like to think I can get back to the top flight with this club and that's why I signed a three-year contract."