Sir Alex Ferguson claims Mark Hughes was "a rottweiler" during his days as a player and the Manchester United manager fully expects his Blackburn team to bare their teeth at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Ferguson is becoming used to former players returning to test their mettle against his side - there are 13 ex-United players now managing league sides in England and Scotland - and he rates Hughes, someone often touted as his likely successor, as among the best of them.

Ferguson said: "I think good teams reflect their manager and I think that you see Mark Hughes in Blackburn a lot of the time.

"Mark was a determined player, he was a rottweiler and a warrior on that pitch, and yet off the pitch you couldn't get a quieter guy. He had two personalities.

"He has aggression and determination. I think I had that too and I think that it's a great quality.

"There are 13 players managing at the moment who are former United players and I could look through them all and see similarities in why they are successful."

United are on the crest of a wave, having scored 22 goals in their last six games, but Blackburn have won four of their last five Premier League games and have already shown with draws against Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea they are a force to be reckoned with.

Accusations about their style of play continue to dog them, but Ferguson for one is an admirer.

The United manager added: "I think the form of Blackburn makes it a really tough game.

"They have been absolutely tremendous and the good thing Mark has done is kept a continuity in the club, kept the side together for a few years which gives them experience of playing together and good team spirit.

"I think they can break into the top four, no-one turns them over and they don't get beaten by stupid scores. They have drawn with Arsenal and Liverpool at home and even away from home they are a handful.

"They are very aggressive at times but I don't have any great issue with it. Maybe about three years ago they had one bad season, but you can't paint them black all the time.

"The disciplinary record this season and last season is good and that's the tell-tale sign. There's nothing wrong with being aggressive so long as it's the right kind of aggression."