MARK Hughes today insisted Blackburn Rovers can beat Manchester United tomorrow as he prepares to head back to Old Trafford for the first time as a Premiership manager.

Hughes, a former United great, is relishing the chance to pit his managerial wits against Sir Alex Ferguson, his great friend and mentor, and the man who played a crucial role in persuading him to become Rovers' new manager when Graeme Souness left for Newcastle last September.

It's 43 years since Rovers last beat United in a league game at Old Trafford but, after taking four points out of six from two tough away games at Everton and Liverpool, Hughes is quietly confident his players are capable of springing another surprise at the 'Theatre of Dreams' on what promises to be an emotional afternoon for the Welshman.

Hughes said: "It's always difficult going to Old Trafford under any circumstances but particularly at the moment because their current form is very good, so it's a tough game for us but we are looking forward to it and we won't go there with any apprehension.

"We still feel we can get something out of it. We've had two decent away results at Everton and Liverpool recently and we can take some confidence from that."

Hughes has been back to Old Trafford as a manager once before when Wales were defeated 2-0 by England in a group six World Cup qualifier last October.

However, tomorrow's sojorn promises to be even more emotive for the 41-year-old, who enjoyed some fabulous times in the red of United, for whom he made 472 appearances, scoring 162 goals, during two separate spells with the club.

The Rovers boss said: "I went back there as the manager of Wales but maybe this is a little bit different because I'll be going back to United as a club manager.

"I had some great times there, United were a big part of my life for a long time and we achieved a reasonable amount of success during that period, so I'm looking forward to taking my own team back there and hopefully we can get a positive result."

Rovers will certainly have their work cut out given United's impressive form at Old Trafford.

Ferguson's side are unbeaten at home in the Premiership this season and the last time they tasted defeat on home territory was against Liverpool in April last year.

However, Rovers are on something of a roll themselves and Hughes is hoping his players' new defensive resolve will stand them in good stead.

Rovers have only lost once in their last seven games and it's 20 Premiership games since they were last defeated by more than one goal.

In fact, Rovers' steady progress under Hughes has already prompted certain pundits to tip the Welshman as a possible successor to Ferguson when he eventually retires.

"I don't know about that," said Hughes, in reference to the possibility of managing United one day.

"I've got a very good job here and I want to do this job to the best of my ability.

"(As for the future) you never know. It would be nice at some stage to manage all of my former clubs, but I'm not sure that's possible."

In the meantime, Hughes is sweating on the fitness of Paul Dickov and David Thompson ahead of tomorrow's game.

Dickov is still struggling with a groin injury and may get an extra week's rest, while Thompson missed training yesterday because of a stomach bug.t