WE'VE just had a weekend off - but it's the last thing City or I wanted at this stage.

Most matches in Division One were postponed because so many players were away on international duty in the World Cup qualifiers.

But with our next game not until Saturday against West Bromwich Albion, it means we'll have had nearly two weeks off since our last outing when we won 4-2 at Burnley. That was such a good result and performance that the break has come at a bad time for us. Right now we want three games a week!

Grimsby and Burnley played at the weekend and climbed above us, but the tables mean nothing at this point. It's only after about 10 games that you can look at the table and see which teams have really started well.

I took the chance to watch one of my team-mates Richard Dunne play for Ireland against Holland in a World Cup qualifier in Dublin.

I wanted to see how he'd fare defending against two of the best strikers in the world, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Patrick Kluivert. And Richard played really well against two players who must each be worth more than ?20-million in today's transfer market.

Ireland won 1-0, which means that Holland are almost certainly not going to be in the World Cup finals next year. Another of my City team-mates, Gerard Wiekens, a Dutchman, was sitting next to me. He was absolutely sick. but I was really pleased for Richard.

England played Holland recently and lost 2-0. They tried to play a footballing game, but I think they're at their best when they pressure the opposition, force teams into mistakes and play a direct style. If it only takes four passes to score a goal, then do it, don't try to take 10 or 15 passes.

It was clear that the Irish had done their homework. They set the tone from the first 20 seconds when Holland were awarded a free-kick. It was a stop-start game with a lot of free-kicks and the Irish would not let the Dutch settle down and play, so they didn't get into a rhythm.

HOLLAND created a few chances in the first 20 minutes but did not convert them and you could sense the Irish grow in confidence and self-belief. It was a pleasing game to watch.

Manchester City could have three players on show in the World Cup finals - Richard Dunne, Paulo Wanchope and Danny Tiatto.

Paulo's country Costa Rica beat Trinidad & Tobago at the weekend and I think they only need one win from their remaining four games to go through. Danny plays for Australia who've got a strong team now and he thinks they will go through and do well.

Watching the match took me back to when I was involved in Bermuda's great World Cup run in 1990. It reminded me of how the supporters were towards us and how everyone was in high spirits.

The World Cup is the ultimate stage and I'm playing with players who will go experience it. Maybe if Bermuda was a bigger country, I could have been there too! I'm really pleased for my team-mates.

England's 5-1 win in Germany raised a few eyebrows over here. No-one expected them to win like that, especially in Germany and with the fact that it was a pressure game.

But with Holland likely to be out of the World Cup, it would be good for football to have England there. Holland usually get to the later stages and they play the sort of football people like watching. If England were not there either, it would make the world Cup less interesting.

Yesterday, Kevin Keegan had a golf day for the players, but I decided to give it a miss. I'm not really a golfer. I got a set of clubs for Christmas and I haven't used them yet. I told the lads I only play on the big stage!