HAD he not been injured, Jussi Jaaskelainen would have been looking forward to helping Finland put another spoke in England's World Cup wheel on Saturday week.

Instead, the Wanderers' keeper will sit at home in the bossom of his young and recently-increased family and watch the Anfield action on television, confident in the knowledge that his time will come.

The World Cup Finals of 2006, maybe, possibly the 2004 European Championship Finals in Portugal.

Being in the same qualifying group as Germany and England, Jaaskelainen doesn't expect Finland to be competing in next year's Oriental experience but he reckons the days of the Scandinavians being the whipping boys of international football are disappearing fast.

The Finns, he insists, can still be a nuisance in Group 9 and, after holding England to a goalless draw in Helsinki in October, isn't ruling out another surprise result.

"It's going to be difficult for England," Jaaskelainen suggests. "There are no easy games any more at international level and the result in Helsinki has given us a lot of confidence.

"But England got their confidence back after just half an hour of the Spain game the other week ... it would have been better for us if they had lost that.

"We are getting better and better all the time though and it's important that we are getting more of our players playing abroad and doing well in the leagues."

The presence of Liverpool stars Jari Litmanen and Sami Hyppia - two of Finland's finest footballing exports - will add spice to the Anfield game and Jaaskelainen believes Charlton's Jonathan Johansson and Chelsea's Mikael Forsell (currently on loan at Crystal Palace) will take some holding.

But, despite his confidence and pride in his national side's abilities, he believes the Finns are still under-equipped to qualify for their first major championship finals.

"Hopefully 2006 but maybe the next European Championships ... if we get a little bit of luck in the draw!" he says, fingers crossed.

"We still have some catching up to do."

By then Jaaskelainen hopes to be a better, stronger player than he was before he suffered the cruciate ligament damage in his right knee in January.

After surgery at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Colorado, where they successfully repaired Ricardo Gardner's knee last year, the Reebok No 1 is ready for the next stage in his rehabilitation programme. He has the brace removed tomorrow and will soon be allowed to do some ball work with Wanderers' goalkeeping coach Fred Barber.

Missing out on the promotion push and a chance to add to his seven international caps was a bitter blow to Wanderers and the Mighty Finn but he remains astonishingly positive and patient.

Advice from former team-mate Keith Branagan, who has survived two cruciate ligament repairs - has helped fuel his optimism.

"Branny went through the same operation and he says he was much stronger after it," Jaaskelainen explains. "So, as far as I am concerned, I've got some great times to look forward to."

"You never know what is going to happen but, hopefully, I will be stronger all round when I come back.

"I'm setting no targets. I just want to get fully fit. I'm only 25 and I have another 10 years to look forward to. I don''t want to come back a month too early and do something that means another six months out.

"I'm determined to be 100 per cent. I don't care if it takes six months or even nine or 10 months. I will only come back when I am ready."