But asked if modern day management was to be endured rather than enjoyed, he replied: "Well, there's something sick in you if you enjoyed last Sunday, and I don't think I'm that sick.

"I'm often questioned, 'Why do you do it?', but look, I've said from day one when I got this job that the one thing I'm going to try to do is enjoy it because I've been given this wonderful opportunity.

"Whether you enjoy management any more, it all depends when you win on a Saturday or not, that's the basics of it.

"It's a difficult, difficult job, but one which, as I said, I'm determined to try to enjoy and get a few results."

Newcastle currently sit in 19th place in the Premier League table with just one win in their seven outings to date, but the way in which they capitulated at Leicester a week after turning in a dreadful display in a 0-0 home draw with Brighton left Bruce firmly in the firing line.

However, he was in defiant mood as he prepared his players for Sunday's showdown with Manchester United, for whom he played with such distinction for eight and a half years.

He said: "Hey listen, you wouldn't be human if it didn't affect you in some sort of way, but you try to get on with your job as best you can, and thankfully I've got a few years under my belt with experience to cope with it.

"The flak always stops with me at the top of the tree. That's the way the job is."

Bruce will go head-to-head with another United old boy on Sunday, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also under pressure after an indifferent start to the campaign by his side.

Asked about the Norwegian, Bruce said: "I think I've got enough on my plate to worry about at the moment rather than worry about what Ole's got on his, but I wish him the best of luck."