Jussi Jaaskelainen has labelled Fred Barber as 'one of the best goalkeeping coaches in the league' after the Finnish stopper reached a landmark 400 appearances for the club against Manchester City.

The 33-year-old has worked alongside Barber for the entirety of his Bolton Wanderers career and he believes that the long-serving coach deserves a huge amount of credit for helping develop him into a world class goalkeeper.

Jaaskelainen, who has 46 international caps for Finland, hailed Barber's intense training methods for constantly keeping him at the pinnacle of his game.

"Fred's been a massive part in my development," said Jaaskelainen. "Everyone knows that he is one of the best goalkeeping coaches in this league - you've seen what he's done, not only with me but Ali (Al-Habsi) and other goalkeepers like Russell Hoult, who did great things with West Bromwich Albion.

"Obviously I've know him for 11 years so I know what he is like, but everyday training is at a high level. He keeps pushing me day in day out and sometimes if you are a bit sloppy then it shows in your training, so you have to be switched on from the first minute.



"You don't necessarily need to spend three hours training a day. If you work properly with him from the first moment then 25 to 30 minutes is sometimes enough."

Aside from Barber, Jaaskelainen also praised the other members of the backroom team for providing advice and support during his tenure at the club.

He added: "We have some great staff who know a lot, so there are always things you can learn from them. I've always been open minded when people have come in because I always like to listen to what they say, I probably even take in too much, but I try to make up my own mind about what is good for me.

"I obviously trust the people I work with because the aim is to try and make me a better goalkeeper and a fitter player."