The real work begins

Another player who will have exactly the same aspirations as myself is my old Aston Villa teammate David James. I really felt for him at the start of the season when he got injured in the game with Holland. Not only did he miss out on the chance to stake a claim for the England goalkeepers jersey, he also had to put back his debut for West Ham by some four months.

It was the worst possible start at a new club. David is a very hard worker on the training pitch, which might surprise people given his reputation earlier in his career. I must admit the character I had read about was totally different to the goalkeeper who arrived at Villa two years ago. He is single minded in his desire to be the best, and it was no surprise that he has overcome his injury in an incredibly short time.

It was great to hear that he has come through a couple of reserve games and that he is close to first team football. I know how badly he wants to go to the World Cup, and I know how much he wants to show the West Ham fans what a quality goalkeeper they have signed.

Although I risk turning this into a personal dedication spot, I must also say how delighted I am to see Chris Coleman making good progress in his comeback. He's a big presence and a great character and I'm sure Fulham will have missed him. I hope he continues his recovery and gets back into their first team soon.

Meanwhile, it seems that the result of the much publicised PFA ballot will be announced imminently. I would expect the outcome to be a large vote in favour of backing the union's stance over taking strike action, but I don't think the situation is straightforward.

I believe that the public are aware now that this is not a case of players who are being paid a fortune and looking to line their own pockets further. The Premier League players clearly do not - at the moment - need the benefits of the union. The top players appreciate the privileged position they are in but feel that they should consider the needs of explayers and those in the lower divisions who need more help from the PFA.

It is of course the top players who have more power and who can influence decisions better than the players lower down and any strike action would obviously affect the Premier League first. I must stress that I feel this really should be a last resort. I don't think any player wants the situation to go to a strike and it remains to be seen whether this action would be effective anyway.

The people who would suffer would be the fans who would have had no voice and no choice in the dispute, which cannot be right. I hope that the powers that be explore every possible avenue before taking what would be ground-breaking and possibly devastating action.