WHILE Manchester United will have the riches and the wealth of world class stars tomorrow, John Curtis knows Blackburn Rovers still retain family values that their opponents will never be able to match.

Rovers have shipped 13 goals on their last four visits to Old Trafford, which have all ended in defeat as the gulf between the best and the rest has continued to grow.

All the evidence suggests that Sam Allardyce’s side – like most other teams in the Premier League – will have their work cut out to even make a game of it against United.

But Curtis, who started his career in the youth team at Old Trafford and made a brief breakthrough to the first team before moving on to spend three years at Ewood Park, has urged Rovers not to give up hope of results against the big boys.

And his own experiences tell him that there is something to be said for the charms of a club like Rovers rather than the results machine that is United.

“There was a very different feel at United and I noticed that first of all when I went to Barnsley on loan, before I came to Blackburn,” said Curtis, now 31 and playing for League Two club Northampton.

“It was very cut throat at United. It was a very different environment.

“There was always a real pressure to perform. I suppose it filtered down from the first team.

“Don’t get me wrong, it was fantastic at United but having played for 11 clubs I know more about what it’s all about now and I suppose I look at it differently.

“Blackburn was a level in between United and Barnsley, but it was a real family club and compared to United it was quite homely.”

Rovers have already been on the wrong end of away thumpings at two of the Premier League’s big boys this month.

A trip to Arsenal resulted in a 6-2 loss, before Rovers were beaten 5-0 at Chelsea on Saturday.

Curtis has offered some consolation though – the trip to Old Trafford may at least be a little less daunting than that visit to Stamford Bridge.

“I don’t think this is the strongest team United have ever had and I think Fergie would admit that himself,” he said.

“They’ve lost Tevez and Ronaldo and I don’t think they’re replaced them so far, although there’s time yet.

“I know a lot of the pundits are saying Chelsea have a strong team and they are the favourites for the league.

“But you will still get upsets. They might be few and far between but you can still get non-league and lower league clubs getting results against these teams.

“And Blackburn are not a small club. They are used to playing these teams.”

Curtis joined Rovers from United in 2000 for a fee of £1.5m and went on to play for Leicester, Portsmouth and Nottingham Forest among others. But he feared his career had finished after leaving QPR in 2007.

He had a brief spell in the Blue Square South with Worcester before linking up again with Dean Saunders, who was Souness’ first-team coach at Rovers and is now in charge at Wrexham.

“I was injured and out of contract, which is a nightmare for a player,” he said.

“I might not have been playing this season but Ian McParland at Notts County said I could go there and train and do my rehab.

“I’ll always owe him a debt of gratitude for that. Notts County didn’t have a reserve team, though, so an old friend of mine who is in charge of Worcester City, Richard Dryden, said I could go down and play a few games for them.

“I think Dean Saunders saw my name in the Worcester team and rung me up and said ‘What are you doing playing for them?’ and said I could go and play for Wrexham. I played a few games and now I’m at Northampton.

“When I joined Blackburn, Graeme Souness rung me up and I spoke to Alex Ferguson and the move was a no-brainer for me.

“I was 21 or 22 and I always said I would move on if I wasn’t playing regularly. I think I played every game in the season Blackburn got promoted and I really enjoyed that.

“I was in and out of the team for the two seasons after that, but I was there when they won the League Cup. Unfortunately I was left out for the final, though, after playing in every round.

“But I have good memories of my time there.”