Millwall midfielder Ryan Tunnicliffe has hailed Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson as the greatest manager of all time.

Tunnicliffe, 24, came through the ranks at United, and made two appearances under Ferguson.

Those two appearances came in cup competitions as a substitute, but he learned a lot from the Red Devils’ most successful manager, who won 13 league titles and two Champions League trophies.

Tunnicliffe, who signed a two-year deal with Millwall last weekend, said: “He was great. In my opinion, he’s the best manager of all time.

“So, to work under him and try to soak up every bit of knowledge from him, you couldn’t ask for more.

“He’s tough but fair. There’s a lot of hearsay and rumours, he’s not just tough and drilling you into the ground.

MORE: Millwall new boy on 'no-brainer' Lions move and why it went wrong at Fulham

“He was probably the best man-manager, so he’d assess the situation and if you needed an arm around you he was happy to do it. But if you needed a kick up the backside then he was more than willing to do that as well.”

Tunnicliffe found his first-team chances limited at Old Trafford.

He was trying to break through during the years when United were at their best under Ferguson, winning trophy after trophy.

Tunnicliffe left for Fulham in 2014, but does not regret his time up north.

He added: “If you asked any kid, they would love to play for United and I got the chance to fulfil that dream. Coming through there, and as a supporter as well, it was the best thing I could have asked for.

“It’s a great club and they teach you how to play football the right way. It’s competitive so obviously the competitive side of trying to break into the team here won’t be disheartening for me.”