JUSSI Jaaskelainen has an envious eye on a quarter-final clash with Birmingham City but admits he could not complain if Adam Bogdan continued to keep goal for the cup heroes.

The Big Finn reclaimed his place between the sticks for the 1-1 draw at Newcastle United after spending the last two games watching his young protege impress against Wigan and Fulham.

Saturday’s game against Aston Villa will be the 35-year-old’s 499th for Wanderers, but with Bogdan, pictured right, showing himself to be an able replacement in the cup competitions this season, Jaaskelainen would be pleased just to see the club progress to a Wembley semi-final, potentially chalking up another century of appearances for himself seven days later against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

“Ideally I’d like to play every game, but the manager makes the team choices,” he said. “At the end of the day it’s about results, and we got two great ones in the cup.

“Going into the quarter-final now, Birmingham away, ideally I’d want to play but I’m not going to moan too much when the manager makes decisions. I’m very happy.”

The draw against 10-man Newcastle at St James’ Park ended a run of six consecutive defeats on the road – but while Jaaskelainen believes it was an opportunity missed, he has taken heart from the recent upturn in form, in which he has conceded just twice in his last five starts.

“I said back in January when we had a bad run that all we really needed to do was get a win to get back on track,” he said. “We’ve shown in the last few games that we are going the right way.

“We could have used a little bit more experience (against Newcastle) to keep the ball and keep our composure, not try and force through that quick pass.

“But it’s a decent result at the end of the day, and now we’ve got Aston Villa.”

Arsenal’s failure to beat Birmingham City in the Carling Cup final means that Wanderers now have one less Europa League place to aim for.

Depending on who eventually competes in the FA Cup final, it may be that a fifth-placed finish will be required to ensure qualification in the league, a position currently occupied by Chelsea who are seven points clear of the Whites with two games in hand.

The temptation, therefore, may now be to focus on the FA Cup as the best possible route, but Jaaskelainen has called for a strong finish to make sure Wanderers at least make good on their pre-season target of a top-half finish.

“We should be flying from now until the end of the season,” he said. “We have 10 games coming up but they are not coming that thick and fast, so we should be well prepared.

“We’re in a good position to build on last season. We wanted the top-half finish – and I’d be disappointed if we didn’t get that now.

“I wouldn’t say I’d take that, though, we should be aiming as high as we can.”