JUSSI Jaaskelainen celebrated his 29th birthday and a 200-match landmark with the acknowledgment that he is now one of the top goalkeepers in the Premiership.

Wanderers goalkeeping coach, Fred Barber, who has worked with the Finland international since he arrived from VPS Vassa in November 1997, says the Reebok number one ranks among the top four in the country -- with his best years still to come.

"When you talk about goalkeepers there are not many better than Jussi," Barber said.

"He's had three years in the Premiership now and he's been one of the steadiest goalkeepers I've seen.

"I'd put him in the top four ... I'm not saying he has fantastic games week in and week out but he is steady, doesn't drop many clangers and at 29 he's still young for a keeper.

"He could be three or four years before he gets to his peak.

"He's not the finished article yet but he's improving all the time, listening and learning. He's very dedicated and focussed on what he does.

"We had a lot to work on when he first came to the club -- the hardest part being the language barrier because it was difficult getting points over to him. But he learned by watching the other keepers, like Keith Branagan."

Barber chooses not to name the three men he puts ahead of his star pupil but believes Jaaskelainen's consistency puts two of the Premiership's highly-acclaimed shot-stoppers in the shade.

He said: "Brad Friedel (Blackburn) had a good year last year and Jerzy Dudek (Liverpool) had a good year but Jussi's been steady all the way through his professional career, apart from when he first came into the side.

"But that was a learning curve for him and he's kicked on from there.

"When Colin Todd first brought him in we thought it was going to be a few years before he would be ready but he's taken his chances when they've come along and worked hard. He came over here with not so much, but he'll go back with a hell of a lot."

Jaaskelainen, whose 200th league start was one of the easiest of his career as Wanderers enjoyed a resounding 2-0 victory over Spurs, admits he never envisaged playing such a prominent role in the club's progress.

"If somebody had told me when I first came that I would have 200 league games before my 29th birthday, I would certainly have taken that," he said. "It's great to have had the chance to play so many games.

"Saturday was a comfortable win but when you looked at what they had up front in the second half (Kanoute, Defoe and Keane) they could score goals from anywhere.

"We should have finished the game off in the first half because we closed them down and created so many chances but we just couldn't do it. It happens sometimes in football that you press and press and when you don't score you can lose a bit of concentration. But we kept ours and got the clean sheet.

"That was brilliant for us because we didn't give them any chances."

Jaaskelainen, famed for his work ethic, says Wanderers have no intention of easing up over the remaining four games.

"We are good enough to finish in the top half and that's where we want to go," he said.

"We still have four games to go and we are already at the level we reached last year -- 44 points and 10 clean sheets.

"Now we want to go to the next level."