Former Manchester United star and current boss of West Bromwich Albion, Bryan Robson, has revealed that he was close to becoming Sir Alex Ferguson's right-hand man in the summer, but negotiations broke down.

Robson and Baggies side play host to United tomorrow at The Hawthorns as United look to claim more Premiership points in order to catch up with Arsenal and Chelsea.

Carlos Queiroz landed the assistant manager's role, re-joining the backroom staff at Old Trafford following an unsuccessful spell in Spain with giants Real Madrid.

Robbo exposed: "I spoke to Alex at one stage about the assistant role. We did have a chat at one stage where I think he was close to offering me it, but he changed his mind for some reason."

"Manchester United are a great club and I think it would have been a great challenge."

"But it didn't happen and it'll be nice to compete against them this Saturday."

Robson took over from Gary Megson earlier on in the season due to a string of bad results and still loom inside the relegation trap-door, in 19th place.