Marcus Hahnemann: Spot on with our box of brownies

The secret weapon in question? Our homemade all-American brownies, of course. The perfect energy boost for any team, except when they look like the batch which came out of our oven on Thursday night. They were more like a pile of goo than something you'd want to eat.

Scroll down to read more:

Amanda says I took them out too early. Everyone's a critic, right?

The brownies, minus my input, have become a traditional part of our build-up to away games, such as today's trip to Villa Park. We have a box on the bus on the way up, and another on the way back. They always get eaten. The guys know I'm the courier, not the cook.

We'll need every small advantage we can grab as Villa are an impressive team, on the edge of a European place, with the likes of Carew, Agbonlahor and Young ready to come at us. Then there's Gareth Barry — back in the England team and the man who beat me with a penalty last season.

People have lots of theories about the best way to save a spot kick. You can look at the angle of the taker's run-up, watch his eyes or take note of his body shape, to name but three. Also, of course, you can just stand your ground, although you're sunk if he goes either side, however poor the kick. If only I could remember what Barry did last season!

Obviously, it's better not to get into that position in the first place, with communication vital to a tight defence, so don't expect me to stay quiet too long this afternoon.

Ibrahima Sonko's gone off to the African Nations Cup, which is a blow to a small squad like ours, so we have to make a change to our back line — another reason for me to keep talking to the guys.

After Villa, we can set our minds on Tuesday night's FA Cup replay against Spurs. The result of the original tie seemed to matter to a hell of a lot more people than usual — but considering we drew 2-2, maybe the gaffer did pick the best team for that particular game after all.

If we beat Spurs we're into the fourth round and heading for a long trip north to Old Trafford. We may need to double the brownies order for that one ...