Ian Holloway has promised us a party when we hit 52 points but hitting our target is a much more serious matter than an excuse for a celebration.

There are a lot of players who are out of contract at the end of the season and once we're safe, the manager can start looking at who he wants to keep.

There is not much security in the game outside the Premiership these days - we're not on the sort of money where we can pay a year's mortgage with a week's wages.

I've been there before, looking for a club at the end of the season, and it's not a nice feeling. It was when I was last at QPR and I had to have operations on a hernia and my ankle near contract negotiation time.

I was told I wasn't going to get another contract, but it was hard to get the interest of other clubs because I wasn't fit enough.

Nine times out of ten we forget about our contract situations and we do banter about it. But once everyone goes home I bet they think about how they have to provide for their families and pay the bills.

Whether you think you're going to get another deal or not, you play the best you can anyway. Because you have more chance of going somewhere else if you are on form.

At this time of year we are like most people in 'normal' jobs because we are all thinking about whether we will have a club next season. It's also the time I look on football as a job rather than something I just play every week.

I feel I have done enough to deserve another contract but I know wanting something and getting it are two different things.

Nine players from Birmingham Ladies are in the Algarve with the England squad, which is nice for them! They are involved in a pre-Euro 2005 warm-up and I heard they just beat Northern Ireland 4-0.

We don't have a game this weekend and our match against Doncaster Rovers was postponed so it's like an end of winter break. But the matches are stacking up. Some teams in our division have just one game to go but we have a few more.

It bodes well for the England team though, because our players will be ticking over nicely and will still be sharp before they all get involved in Euro 2005.

Catch you next week!