WBA boss speaks about former England Manager Sir Bobby Robson's influence on his career

Steve Clarke has paid tribute to former England Manager Sir Bobby Robson, as he prepares to take his West Bromwich Albion side to Robson's former club Newcastle United on Sunday.

The Scot ended his playing career at Chelsea, before joining the Magpies as assistant to Ruud Gullit and then working under his replacement Robson.

And it offered invaluable experience to Clarke, who went on to coaching roles at Chelsea, West Ham United and Liverpool before taking his first senior job with the Baggies this summer and guiding them into the top six.

Clarke said: "I was lucky to work with Bobby for a year and I took a lot from the way he dealt with and managed the players.

"He was great to me because he knew I was a young coach who wanted to learn and he sat me in on some of the meetings when he was one-to-one with a player.

"He would have me there to watch and observe and see how he spoke to and dealt with players and that was absolutely invaluable for me.

"It was just his manner and his way of getting the best out of players.

"As a manager, there is not one way to get the best out of a number of different people.

"There are a number of different ways to get the best and Bobby seemed to have the gift of being able to recognise and understand what sort of motivational tool he had to use at that time."