JUSSI Jaaskelainen showed yet again on Saturday why he is is rated by many pundits as one of the best keepers in the business . . . in fact, for me, he is the best.

I might be biased but I have watched him closely down the years and I’m sick of saying it: there is no one better, he is out there on his own.

Time and again the big man has rescued Bolton Wanderers with his match-winning or point-saving performances and he did it again with ghis first-half display at West Ham.

Johan Elmander quite rightly took the plaudits, building on his impressive showing in the opening day draw against Fulham with two superbly-taken goals and I particularly enjoyed seeing the way Kevin Davies played a true captain’s role, leading from the front; West Ham must be sick of the sight of him.

But without Jussi’s rock-solid performance in the fisrt 45 minutes, it could have been a much different story .

Okay, Carlton Cole’s penalty was a poor strike, but Jussi has a reputation as a good shot-stopper and is always fancied at pens, so that could have affected the West Ham man’s approach.

Noble managed to beat him with the second one, which was a soft decision that put West Ham back in the game at 2-1. Bolton never seem to get good fortune like that.

But Jussi had laid such a solid and confident foundation and the team was playing so well together that they went straight back up the other end and killed the game off and extended their recent record against teh Hammers to seven straight wins.

It’s a magnficent run – the sort one team often enjoys against another – but don’t for one minute think it’s only about having a lucky ground of having the Indian sign on a particular team.

There might be teams you always fancy beating or a lucky hunting ground, but records and statistics don’t count for anything. You still have to got out and deliver.

So while I’m sure Owen Coyle’s team were feeling confident when they rolled up at went to Upton Park on Saturday, no one was going to hand them the points on a plate. Each player had to win his own personal battle and that was just what they did.

It was a good team performance and a well deserved three points, although I wasn’t happy with the telly pundits talking about Bolton being “long-ball” and “route one”. It wasn’t like that at all and I was chuffed for the players and for the fans who showed with the way they celebrated together that they’ve got soemthing special going.

Obviously, I was delighted for Johan . . . like I said last week, he has never shirked and all he needed was a goal to get him going. I expect him to go from strength to strength now that he’s got those two under his belt - the header, in particular, was a quality finish on the end of a quality fross from Chung-Yong Lee.

I don’t blame Owen Coyle for planning to give some of the fringe players a runout at in the Carling Cup tie at Southampton tonight. It’s a great chance for them to put down a marker of their own and a chance for the manager to have a good look at them.

But don’t be fooled by his team selection. There’s fierce competition for places at the club and he will be picking a team to win the tie. Make no mistake about that.