Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce insists he was joking round when claiming he would be successful at Real Madrid.

Allardyce insisted that although he was ambitious, his comments had not been serious and he was pleased to be working at Ewood Park.

"I didn't think it would create quite as big a stir as it has done," Allardyce said.

"It was a tongue-in-cheek comment. Somebody asked me if I had found my level and was comfortable as manager at Blackburn Rovers.

"I'm never comfortable as a manager because I am always looking to improve, and my terms of wanting to improve is about having a burning ambition to always get better than I am.

"Obviously, in the end, that would always be to try and get to the very, very top of the industry that I am working in."

He added: "I believe in my own ability, that is the bottom line. At the moment it is with Blackburn Rovers, which I am very pleased about."