Wigan Athletic boss Warren Joyce says he would've left Manchester United sooner if not for Sir Alex Ferguson.

United meet Wigan on Sunday in the FA Cup.

Joyce, who had turned down approaches from Blackburn and Hull, said: “I tried explaining this a few times to several chief executives or agents who were working for them and they would laugh and say, 'It would be easier getting Pep Guardiola to come and speak than you!'.

“They were kind of surprised there was that principle involved in football nowadays.

“You have your own standards and principles.

“There's no way that when someone like Sir Alex asks you to do that job, you can say on the one hand that you want to develop and then jump ship when X, Y and Z gets offered to you."