JUSSI Jaaskelainen reckons Manchester United could again land themselves in a mess if they fail to find the right replacement for Edwin van der Sar.

Sir Alex Ferguson will be searching for a replacement for the big Dutchman this summer after he announced he was hanging up his gloves at the end of the season.

Jaaskelainen has no such plans at Wanderers, and having just passed 500 appearances for the club, he has now focused his sights on Eddie Hopkinson’s all-time record of 578 by sticking around for “another three or four years”.

The Big Finn has been the Whites’ regular number one for more than a decade, and in that time, has watched on with interest as United struggled in the aftermath of Peter Schmeichel’s exit in 1999.

A succession of different goalkeepers were used between the Dane’s departure and Van der Sar’s arrival in 2005, including Mark Bosnich, Raimond van der Gouw, Nick Culkin, Massimo Taibi, Paul Rachubka, Fabien Barthez, Andy Goram, Roy Carroll, Ricardo, Tim Howard, Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak.

But Jaaskelainen believes they only truly regained their invincibility after bringing in the former Juventus and Fulham stopper to Old Trafford six years ago.

“Edwin has played for some of the biggest clubs in Europe, so you would have to say he’s in the top two or three around,” Jaaskelainen told The Bolton News.

“He’s going to be hard to replace. You saw that when they lost Peter Schmeichel, it took them many years to find another like him.

“I think Sir Alex Ferguson has said he wished he’d found Van der Sar four or five years before – but that’s a part of football. It’s Premier League and it’s not easy to play as a goalkeeper.

“You see loads of keepers coming in from abroad and not doing so well. From my point of view, it’s the experience that helps you prepare.

“It’s obviously a big decision. Before Van der Sar came, I wouldn’t say they struggled, but they weren’t as good.

“In him, you have someone that the manager can trust.”

Jaaskelainen puts his own longevity down to his rigorous pre-match preparations and training schedules, honed down many years since he arrived at the Reebok in 1997.

And he reckons that after seeing team-mates like Gudini Bergsson and Stelios regret their own early retirements, that he will not rush into a decision like Van der Sar’s any time soon.

“I’ve got next year left on my contract, so I can’t set my target at 600 appearances just yet,” he said. “Hopefully, if I can keep looking after myself, then you never know.

“I think Edwin could play on. I don’t know his reasons behind his decision but there are so many players who come back and say you should keep playing as long as you can, because when it’s finished, it’s finished.

“At the moment, I feel like I want to play as long as I can at this level. I’m only 36, I’m not that old.”

Jaaskelainen has not experienced much success at Old Trafford in recent years, but kept goal when Wanderers earned back-to-back victories in their neighbours’ back yard in 2001 and 2002.

He remembers the first of those wins fondly, as aside from goals from Kevin Nolan and Michael Ricketts, he also made what he regards as the finest save of his career – a wonderful double reaction from Andy Cole and Paul Scholes.

“That took us tor 15 points in our first season back in the Premier League, which was a big thing at the time,” he said.

“That save stuck for me because it was one of the early games for me in my career. Those kind of things stay with you forever.

“Going to Old Trafford for the first time and it was 1-1 just before half time, so that’s why it sticks out in my mind.

“I picked that one out just before my testimonial when we did 22 of my best moments at Bolton.”