Steve Bruce talks about ‘tickly bum time’ in live BBC blunder before making awkward sex joke about former team-mate

LEGENDARY ex-defender Steve Bruce has spectacularly failed to play it safe at the back - as he made two saucy gaffes on live radio.

The Manchester United hero invented "tickly bum time" - then made an awkward sex joke about former team-mate Gary Pallister.

The two centre-backs won three top-flight titles, a trio of FA Cups and the European Cup Winners' Cup alongside each other at Old Trafford.

But Bruce's famous no-nonsense style deserted him on air.

He began to crack when BBC 5 Live Sport asked him about the monumental title battle between Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool.

That's when he reconditioned iconic ex-United boss Alex Ferguson's "squeaky bum time" expression into something potentially more Blue than Red Devil - namely "tickly bum time".

This colourful description could have escaped as a one-off blunder - until Bruce surpassed himself with his follow-up effort.

The ex-Newcastle and Sunderland manager, 63, was explaining how United's stars had no time to rest under a strict regime in the 1990s.

And his second own goal came via an odd explanation of how his partnership with Pallister worked so well.

Bruce said: "We messed about which helped a lot when you play with each other... I don't mean literally.

"You play alongside each other - and that's the way it works."

The ex-Aston Villa chief's "flashback" to his golden years as a player stunned listeners.

"What's going on with Steve Bruce tonight?" asked one football fan, who posted the clips online.

Luckily for listeners, full-time went on his interview before he had the chance to rise the occasion by clinching a hat-trick of cheeky errors.