Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert has paid tribute to Manchester United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson.

Vila are at United tonight.

"You'd love to know how he's done it," he said.

"Starting out at East Stirlingshire, St Mirren, Aberdeen where he did a fantastic job and then Manchester United. He had a hard time at United to start with but the rest is history.

"What he's done is nothing short of remarkable. I know him pretty well. I used to go and watch Manchester United training when I was out of work.

"I don't think there's a better manager. I don't think that'll we'll see another manager stay at one club for 27 years. Who's going to do that?

"He's surpassed anything anyone could do. He's won virtually everything, European Cups, league titles. He's a top, top manager."