A DEFIANT Sam Allardyce has told his critics ‘you won’t hurt me’ after admitting his experiences in football have forced him to grow ‘three skins’.

The Blackburn Rovers boss has been the centre of a media storm over the last few days after his “tongue in cheek comments” claiming he could manage Real Madrid sparked a backlash from journalists, pundits and supporters alike.

Ahead of tonight’s Carling Cup third round tie at Aston Villa though, Allardyce has expressed surprise at the resulting criticism and insisted his comments were simply taken out of context.

Former Rovers player Robbie Savage and Arsenal legend Ian Wright have jumped on the ‘anti-Allardyce bandwagon’ over the last few days, labelling him disrespectful and hypocritical, but Allardyce remains defiant in his bid to be the best he can be.

He said: “There is no mickey to be taken. It was a bit of a tongue in cheek comment.

"I like to give you media something to write about because you struggle often.

"I filled a lot of columns in the papers and a lot of people took it in the wrong context and blew it out of all proportion.

“At the end of the day it was tongue in cheek. Sometimes you say things and people will take it whatever way they want.

"I think I have two skins, sometimes three. I have my own skin, then I have a rhino skin and then sometimes I put an elephant skin over that.

“I did not think it would cause such a stir. The people that were there knew how it was meant but choose to write about it in a way that caused hysteria. They were tongue in cheek comments.

“Someone asked me if I had found my level and was comfortable managing Blackburn Rovers.

"I am never comfortable because I am always looking to improve.

"I have a burning ambition to always get better then I am and that would mean always trying to get to the top of the industry I am working in.

“It is okay though. If I wanted to be boring I wouldn’t answer your questions that you ask.

"I choose to answer them, perhaps that is silly of me, perhaps I shouldn’t answer them and make it a little more boring.”

Allardyce is now keen for the attention to refocus on his team this evening as Rovers look to make up for last season’s Carling Cup semi-final heartbreak at Villa Park.

Rovers’ poor performance in Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Fulham drew some inevitable criticism from the stands but, as he looks to make amends, he was quick to point out the progress made during his reign at the club.

“The stick has been more about me than about the players,” said Allardyce.

“It has created a bit of hysteria but I don’t think the players are too worried about that.

“As a group of players we are very well bonded together now. We haven’t quite been together for two years but have made massive strides, massive progress.

“We have completely turned around a huge amount of players. Financially we needed all the money we could get and also a lot of the players had come to the end of their contracts and were getting on a little bit.

“The massive strides we have made is we finished 10th, that was an over achievement considering what we were doing in terms of changing all the players, sorting the club out financially and then bringing a lot of young players into the side.

“Now we have built an expectation of our own fans that 10th is the target and that is a hard thing to go for and one we believe we can and perhaps, given a bit of luck, might be able to do even better.”