Bolton hero Jaaskelainen top keeper in Premiership, says Nolan

BOLTON skipper Kevin Nolan would not swap Jussi Jaaskelainen “for any other ‘keeper in the world” after the Finn produced a superb display to secure victory at Aston Villa.

Jaaskelainen made two outstanding saves to deny Craig Gardner at close range and a 25-yard drive from Gary Cahill as Bolton snatched a single-goal victory which even manager Sam Allardyce admitted was undeserved.

A second-half penalty from veteran midfielder Gary Speed, on his 100th appearance for the Trotters, was enough to push them into fifth spot in the Premiership.

But the real hero was Jaaskelainen, who has remained loyal to Bolton for nine years despite occasions when he could have moved to bigger clubs, most notably Manchester United.

Nolan said: “It was important after last week’s great win at home, when we really dominated and took the game to West Ham, that we got a good result at Villa.

“Villa have always been a great side at home, very difficult to beat, and we knew it was going to be tough, and to be honest we had our backs to the wall for the majority of the game.

“But we hung in there and Jussi has earned his money. He made a couple of great saves. He pulls them off every day in training so I don’t want to blow his trumpet too much. He always gets a big head!

“Jussi is up there with whoever people think is the number one in the Premiership. I’d not swap Jussi for any other Premiership keeper or for that matter any other keeper in the world.

“He was out of contract last summer and we were all glad to have him signed up for another few years at Bolton.”

Nolan believes justice was done for Bolton after Lady Luck had been against them in recent weeks when they outplayed opponents.

He said: “We have had two three-pointers on the trot and hopefully we can get into a bit of a winning streak now. We’ve gone away from home before on occasions, played really well and deserved a win and came away with nothing. This time we probably didn’t deserve the win but that’s football for you.”

Villa manager Martin O’Neill remained upbeat despite his side now having gone six games without a win, although they have still only tasted defeat three times in the Premiership this season.

He said: “It was a very disappointing result but I can’t complain about the performance from the players.”