Steve Bruce revealed yesterday that he and his Manchester United team-mates used to call Sir Alex Ferguson the Ayatollah when they were striving to win the club's first Barclays Premier League title in the 1990s.

This weekend at the Stadium of Light, Bruce's Sunderland team will do their bit to stop Ferguson winning his 11th on what promises to be a pivotal day of title-chasing football.

United: Ferguson (left) and Bruce

Bruce, a former United central defender and captain, has dismissed all talk of his team giving his former club an easy ride. This, after all, is a team who came within seconds of beating United at Old Trafford earlier in the season.

There was, however, still a sense of reverence when Bruce spoke of the man who has written his name over the Premier League in larger handwriting than most.

Bruce said: 'I had 10 years there, he made me captain for five years. And if I am 10th in the rich list then "thanks very much Sir Alex".

'Scared? Scared isn't the right word. Petrified. Make no mistake, he was the boss. I spoke to him a week ago. He knew that we called him the Ayatollah, under our breath. He does know, we all did. He has a ferocious side but he also has an unbelievable humility about him. That's why he handles players the way he does.

'I bumped into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a month ago when I was doing some TV at Old Trafford at the Bayern Munich game.

'I said: "Why are you here so early?" 'He said: "I want to hear the manager's team talk tonight."

'That tells you something. Here is Ole, who has been with him for 10 years and more but now is on the coaching side. But he still wants to learn from him.'

Rivals: United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and Sunderland manager Steve Bruce

Bruce has tried to beat Ferguson's United 14 times as a manager with Sunderland, Wigan and Birmingham. So far, he has not managed it.

This weekend he will perhaps hand the title to Chelsea - who play at Liverpool earlier in the day - if he manages to break the sequence. 'I have never beaten Sir Alex but then not a lot of people have,' he laughed.

'Is it 14 times? Effing hell. Jesus. This season was the closest ever, just 20 seconds away. We have to be at our best because we know that they will.

'We seriously believe we can win and really want to win too. There is all this stuff about me just because I played there for 10 years.

'What am I going to say to the players? "Oh, by the way lads, just forget it today. There will be near 50,000 here, we're live on the telly, every man and his dog wants to be here but please don't show up, just let them win, will you?" It is not going to happen. I am convinced we will play well because they will.'

Sunderland's 2-2 draw at Old Trafford in October remains one of the highlights of their season, even if an Anton Ferdinand own goal in added time robbed them of a landmark win. On Sunday, Bruce will once more put his faith in centre forward Darren Bent as he looks to rattle United's defence.

Asked yesterday if Bent faces competition from Bobby Zamora of Fulham for a place in England's World Cup squad, Bruce was candid.

'No disrespect to Bobby Zamora because he's had a wonderful season, but for me he's nowhere near Bent,' said Bruce. 'Zamora has had a one-off.

He used to get five or six a year. Benty got 22 for Charlton, a team that got relegated, a few years ago.'