Ferguson key as Hughes gambles on a Rovers return

A telephone conversation with Sir Alex Ferguson provided the reassurance Mark Hughes required to leave Wales for Blackburn Rovers.

Although it is nine years since he left Old Trafford, Hughes is still close to the Manchester United manager, on whom he leant for advice once it became clear that he topped a list of 50 serious candidates to replace Graeme Souness as manager at Ewood Park.

"He was very supportive," Hughes said yesterday. "Sir Alex thought the time was right and I should make a move. I had an opportunity about 18 months ago to go to Manchester United, not as his No 2 but in another capacity, but I did not think it was right for me. I am a completely different character to Sir Alex, but we do have in common an attention to detail. I have always made sure my teams are well-prepared."

Hughes smiled that he did not often employ "the hairdryer treatment" Ferguson used at half-time in Lyon on Wednesday night but that "he has his moments". Those moments have increased as Welsh momentum has slackened over the past year.

There will be just two more internationals for Hughes to take charge of, against England at Old Trafford on 9 October and what is sure to be a difficult and emotional farewell to the Millennium Stadium against Poland four days later. Hughes had wanted to remain as Wales manager for the whole of their World Cup qualifying campaign, but this was vetoed by Blackburn, who feared that a loss of focus might endanger their Premiership survival.

"There were occasions when I thought it would be possible to go on," said Hughes, who was wearing a signet ring with the Welsh crest on his first day as manager at Ewood Park. "It is possible to combine two jobs, as Steve McClaren and Peter Taylor do with England, but other people wouldn't have allowed me to do it."

John Williams, the Blackburn chief executive, indicated that if Hughes had more experience of club management, they might have compromised. "Let's make no bones about it, Mark has not managed in the Premier League before and he will have his hands full. Managing Wales beyond next month would have been a bridge too far and not in the interests of Blackburn Rovers."

Mark Bowen, Hughes' assistant in Cardiff and now Blackburn, will have no further involvement with Wales.

Hughes was asked about his successor in Cardiff and argued that it should be a Welshman, which would stifle the campaign to install Sir Bobby Robson, even with Gary Speed as a long-term replacement. "You have to understand the mentality of the Welsh public and their level of expectation," he said. "You need to have a relationship with them and, if you do that, it can only help the players."

Hughes' first task will be to reverse a sequence of results at Ewood Park that jeopardised Blackburn's Premiership status last season and has left them second bottom with two points from five matches. Although high earners, like Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, have left, the wage bill is still dangerously high and relegation would have catastrophic consequences.

Realistically, Hughes has been given three seasons, having signed a two-year fixed contract that will be followed by a one-year rolling deal, to achieve his aim of taking Blackburn to "the top of the Premiership's second tier". Should he succeed, greater prizes such as Manchester United may come within his grasp - although much the same was said on the day Brian Kidd arrived at Ewood Park.