STEVE Banks had two objectives when he makes his Premiership debut at Villa Park - a clean sheet and a soiled shirt.

The clean sheet would mean he had helped extend Wanderers' much-envied unbeaten away record as well as doing his own job prospects a power of good.

The shirt, in whatever condition, would be a prized souvenir - a token to go with words of praise he once received from an opponent he still regards as the best goalkeeper in the world.

"When I was at Blackpool, Peter Schmeichel is supposed to have said I was one of the best goalkeepers outside the Premier League," Banks recalls.

"It was three or four years ago. I've no idea where he'd seen me or why he said it but as far as I am concerned he's still, arguably, the best in the world - one of the reasons Villa are where they are.

"I'm looking forward to meeting him and I'll be ripping his shirt off him at the end."

Banks is determined to make the most of his first chance to display his talents in top flight football - a rare opportunity arising because Jussi Jaaskelainen is serving a one-match suspension as a consequence of his sending off in the Newcastle game a fortnight ago.

The former Gillingham and Blackpool number one would have taken over that day if he had not sustained a disclocated finger in a training ground accident, which led to Bo Hansen having to don the gloves!

Fully fit again, he is hell bent on giving Sam Allardyce a selection headache when he considers his team for the home game against Everton next week, when the Finland international will be available again.

"The way Jussi's playing, it doesn't matter what I'm doing, I'm not going to get in," he says, praising his training partner and regular room-mate who has been in outstanding form since recovering from the serious knee injury that kept him out of the second half of last season.

"The only way I was going to get a chance was if he was if he got injured, sent off or suffered a loss of form. And I wouldn't have wished that on him.

"But hopefully now that I've got my chance, I can make him sit on the bench for a few weeks."

Banks admits he will be nervous before the action starts at Villa Park but no more than usual and less wound up than he would have been last season when, by his own admission, he was not handling his situation as well as he should have done.

"I got a couple of games but I was too hyped up," he explains. " I was trying too hard but coming to terms with my situation has made me more relaxed.

"Everyone knows what I can do, whereas before I was trying too hard to show them.

"It's frustrating when you aren't getting games but I'm doing what I always dreamed about as a boy. I work hard, come in for training every day with the lads and I love it ... I don't want to sound like I'm taking anything for granted but how many people would rather be in my position?"

A scorer himself in his Blackpool days - the matchwinning spot kick in a penalty shoot-out in an LDV Trophy game against York City in the 97-98 season - he has mixed feelings about the prospect of coming face to face with Schmeichel on one of the Great Dane's famous ventures into the opposition box.

"Looking at Peter's size it's not surprising he scores a few," Banks said, reflecting on Schmeichel's latest success in the 3-2 defeat at Everton last week. "He's probably bigger than most outfield players. Whenever I've tried it, I've always been told to get back!

"But then again, if he's charging up in the closing seconds, it will mean Villa are desperate for a goal ... and that could be good news for us."