LOU Fern is not sure if a woman would want to take charge of the England men's team – and she has emphatically ruled herself out of the running!

New Milton ladies manager Fern has enough of a job on her hands given she is due to send her side into battle for a Women's FA Cup third-round qualifying clash with Exeter City on Sunday (2pm),

The Fawcett's Field boss, a key cog in the local women's football scene given her multiple commitments to the game, is not sure if a woman would have the desire to permanently lead the Three Lions.

Speaking to the Daily Echo during Women's Sport Week, Fern said: "Would a woman want to do it? Not being funny, there's a reason I don't run boys' teams!

"They are a totally different animal. In my experience, ladies are quite receptive to coaching and boys aren't so much, I don't think. Maybe that's just my view.

"I don't know if there are any women out there that would want that job, to pander to a bunch of well-paid prima donnas. I certainly don't want it!"

Fern's involvement in football may now be an obsession but it was not always that way.

"I had nothing to do with it, other than the fact I watched it on television, until 2004 when my daughter was nine and she started playing," said Fern.

"I was just a parent in the first year, then a manager in the second year and a secretary in third year and it just snowballed from there.

"It absolutely gripped me. Here we are 12 years later and, to be honest, I think of nothing else.

"It's completely taken over my life. Not only am I the manager and secretary at New Milton, I'm also manager and secretary at AFC Boscombe and the Hampshire Women's League secretary as well.

"I actually let a couple of things go this year! But as you can imagine, it's all-consuming."

The women's team at New Milton was only formed this summer after the AFC Boscombe senior women's side moved under the Fawcett's Field banner, an arrangement which earned Fern and co a Wessex League-quality pitch and the chance to make significant steps up the ladder.

Two games into their Southern Region Women's League First Division campaign, Milton are top of the standings with six points and a goal difference of 18.

"I've got a really special thing going on here," said Fern. "I've got the right bunch of girls and a lot of them have been playing for me for nearly 10 years.

"There is a bond there, which you don't necessarily get that often in the men's game, where they want to stick together and they are mates.

"I have that core and they are just incredibly talented. I'm very lucky to have ended up with such a good bunch.

"I'm always of the mindset – build it and they will come – and that's what I've tried to do when we were Boscombe and that's why I made the move when we were approached to go to New Milton, because that was the only way we were going to be able to progress."

Fern masterminded a 1-0 victory over Cherries' ladies' side in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup, setting up a meeting with higher-division Exeter.

The likes of Tottenham, West Ham and Newcastle are due to enter the competition in two rounds' time.

Asked if she felt Exeter was a winnable fixture, Fern added: "I would like to think so. My team is doing so well and they have a lot of confidence, so I think they have a good chance.

"It will be our first time playing a team from the Premier League so we're really not sure how we're going to measure up.

"Hopefully, it will be a positive measuring-up so we know how far away we are from competing at that level. A good barometer, as they call it.

"Regardless of the result, I actually can't see any negatives. We have a home tie and if we were to win, it would be fantastic and we would get a bit of prize money. If we were to lose, it would show us where we're at.

"I don't really think there is negative outcome."

Elsewhere, Poole Town ladies host AEK Boco in the FA Cup on Sunday (2pm).