What ingredients for a top weekend! It is probably the biggest two days in my season so far, and I am really looking forward to it.

First up: home against the league leaders. We have had double training sessions in preparation, and I have already got some secret inside information about the Ipswich player I am marking... from my brother!

He plays right back for Crewe - one of my old clubs - and they played Ipswich last week. Apparently their left wing is an England youth player, and pretty tricky.

My brother is only 18, and he's just broken into the first team. He joined as a 13-year-old after they saw him playing for his Sunday side.

We've had the Charltons, the Nevilles, the Wright Phillips... and if Paul gets signed up as a pro we'll have the Bignots. He's the only one of my brothers who plays. My other brother works as a social worker and can't kick a ball to save his life.

But Paul has given me the low-down on Ipswich, and we're going to win - no joke.

Then there's Super Sunday. I'll bring my Ladies in for an extra early team talk, so I can catch the first half of Villa v Birmingham.

My team will have to miss my half time talk, because I'll be in the bar watching the last bit of the derby match. They won't mind, and anyway, they will have it sorted.

Seriously, we know how to tackle the semi final, because of the fact Arsenal battered us earlier in the season is still fresh in our minds. It gave me a wake-up, and since then we haven't lost. Seven wins on the trot!

Mia Hamm, women's football's greatest icon, has just hung up her boots, and it occurred to me that English women's football needs someone like her. But before we get a Mia the game needs to be in tip-top condition or all the best players will go over to the States to play.

The English game had a player of Mia's calibre in Kelly Smith, but she went to the States to play. And every other world-class player will do the same until we win a major championship.

But it's not doom and gloom - far from it. The game is getting better and better here, and I am confident in the near future we will be able to keep the top players here.

Mia was an icon, and I even named my daughter after her. And in the next few years I'll see if she takes after her namesake. But don't worry, I'm not going to push her into football if she doesn't want to. Catch you next week.

Queens Park Rangers play Ipswich at Loftus Road on Saturday (3pm) and Birmingham City Ladies take on Arsenal at Damson Park (Solihull Borough) on Sunday (2pm) in the Premier League Cup semi-final.