Newport-born Sheen, who was brought up in Port Talbot, has already played Tony Blair twice, including in The Queen, as well as Kenneth Williams and lately David Frost on stage.

Frears said there was a "strong likelihood" the film about Clough would be made and hoped to start shooting it at the end of the year. He added that it would be based on David Peace's "wonderful book" about the legendary manager, and written by Peter Morgan, who wrote The Queen.

(Brian Clough)

Clough's unconventional approach to football management won him successive European Cups with Nottingham Forest in 1979 and 1980, and a League Championship. He also won the league title with Derby County in 1972, but a row with the club's directors forced his resignation a year later. He was later lured to Leeds United to begin one of British football's top jobs.

But his reputation for aggressive management soon got him into trouble, and he was sacked after only 44 days when the players mutinied. He died in 2004.

"I'm hoping to make a film about Brian Clough at the end of the year based on a wonderful book I came across," said Frears. "The truth is that it hasn't been written yet. Peter Morgan is writing it, and with luck we will make it." He added: "There's a strong likelihood I'm going to be doing it. "I know Michael Sheen is going to play him (Clough) because he looks like him."

(Michael Sheen)

Frears was a special guest at the Ffresh festival on Thursday night, a showcase for Wales' talented young film-makers. He talked about his life as a film-maker and took questions from an audience of more than 300. But when asked why The Queen had been so successful, Frears found it difficult to reply. "I've no idea," he said. "It's taken me completely by surprise.

'Casting'

"I don't know why it's so popular other than it's the most brilliant film," he joked. "It was mainly about driving around in Scotland and was an unremarkable film to make."  The drama centres on the Royal family's reaction to the death of Princess Diana in 1997.

The Queen has already secured six Oscar nominations, including one for Frears as best director and another for its star, Dame Helen Mirren. It was nominated for 10 Baftas and won two for best picture and best actress for Dame Helen, adding to her Golden Globe.

Frears went onto say what he thought made a successful film. "Helen Mirren playing the Queen is the best piece of casting in the world," he said. "By casting her most of the work had been done. The trouble starts when you get the casting wrong."

Speaking to BBC News later, he praised Sheen' s work.  "He has some quality in him, some very precise quality, and he has caught people's imagination playing people like Blair and David Frost," he said.