Everton captain Phil Neville: I want to play on for at least two more years

Phil Neville – Everton

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Everton captain Phil Neville feels he can keep playing for two seasons, if not more, despite having questioned his professional future last autumn due to injury.

The versatile defender, whose brother Gary bowed out from service at Manchester United in January, was worried when a foot injury kept him out of the first few games of the 2010-11 campaign.

Neville told the club’s official website that he was glad that his manager David Moyes had persuaded him to nip thoughts of retirement in the bud.

“I was questioning myself whether I was good enough to be a footballer again, I was contemplating retirement at the time but the manager told me to snap out of it and so did my family and I’ve had a great season,” he said.

Now 34, Neville feels he has fully recovered and has rediscovered his drive to play on.

“I’ve personally enjoyed it this season more than any other one, I feel as fit as I ever have and from the start of the season where I thought it might be my last I’m now thinking I want to continue for as long as possible and at least the next two seasons – hopefully at Everton.”

However, the former Manchester United man admitted that there had been tough times as well as high points in the Toffees’ season, pointing to the side’s cup defeats to Football League opposition among others.

“The three games against Reading, Brentford and Bolton were probably real low points,” he conceded.

“Reading in the FA Cup was absolutely catastrophic – you can’t say anything more than that, we’d just beaten Chelsea and we thought it was going to be our year again – we’re going to turn it around and get to Wembley and then we get beat by Reading.”

Neville went on to praise the team spirit shown by his side to pick themselves up after those setbacks.

“We all just seem to pull together, that’s the pleasing thing about being captain of this group of players, that when we lose at Bolton or against Brentford or Reading it’s not just one or two that have to raise the spirits, the whole team pull together.”

Since joining Everton in 2005, Neville’s influence and ability to play in central midfield as well as across the defence has seen him become a key figure in Moyes’ team.