Paul Ince will go into the most important game of his managerial career tomorrow with Mark Hughes, his predecessor at Blackburn Rovers, dismissing his claims that an antipathy towards managers with Manchester United connections is undermining his attempts to succeed at the Lancashire club.

Having guided Blackburn through a run of ten games without a Barclays Premier League victory, Ince’s position is likely to become increasingly perilous should Wigan, managed by Steve Bruce — like Hughes, a former team-mate of Ince’s at Old Trafford — claim all three points at the JJB Stadium tomorrow.

The 41-year-old’s future as manager was discussed at a board meeting at Ewood Park on Tuesday, but John Williams, the chairman, is reluctant to act hastily to dispense with a manager who was appointed less than six months ago. However, a failure to beat Wigan would place huge pressure on Ince before the home game against Stoke City a week tomorrow.

Ince has reacted angrily to suggestions that his position is under threat and he claimed last week that the likes of himself and Roy Keane, who resigned as Sunderland manager eight days ago, are placed under extra scrutiny because of their time as players at Old Trafford.

But Hughes, the Manchester City manager, has suggested that Ince is simply suffering the same pressures as his Premier League counterparts rather than being singled out as a result of his United history.

“You get judged on being a professional manager rather than your ties with former clubs, so I don’t think that ever becomes an issue,” he said. “It’s certainly not something that I’ve experienced as a manager.

“But in terms of managers being under pressure, the coach gets parked in front of somebody else’s door from week to week and this week it’s Paul’s turn. Maybe next week, it will be someone else.

“Paul is his own man, though, and he’ll get the job done. He is a successful manager, he has moulded teams and he just needs to be given time.”

With Williams keen to offer Ince every opportunity to turn fortunes around, Hughes, who left Blackburn for City in June, believes that Ince will be given time to steady the ship. “Paul has a great chairman in John Williams,” he said. “The thing about John is that he will always back his manager and that’s a great thing to have.

“No club wants to fall out of the Premier League but for a club such as Blackburn, maybe it would be more significant for them. I’m sure it won’t happen, though, because a couple of back-to-back wins will very quickly change the outlook.”

Blackburn’s lowly position in the Premier League, with only West Bromwich Albion lying below them, has increased the urgency on Ince’s team to secure their first three points since the 2-1 victory away to Newcastle United on September 27.

Defeats at the hands of Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa since that win on Tyneside underline the testing fixtures that Blackburn have had to negotiate over the past 2½ months.

The failure to beat relegation rivals such as Bolton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland during that run has led to concerns in the boardroom and among the supporters.

Tomorrow’s derby marks the beginning of a potentially crucial programme of fixtures that includes encounters with Stoke, Sunderland, Fulham, Newcastle, Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough before the end of January.

Morten Gamst Pedersen, the Norway midfield player, concedes that the forthcoming programme will be hugely important.

“We’ve got Wigan, Stoke, Sunderland, Manchester City, Fulham, Newcastle coming up, so there are good opportunities and we did well against Wigan last season,” he said. “Even if we get a point at Wigan, we have to start just picking up things and then you get on a roll.”