Neville may be out until next season

GARY Neville may not make his return to the Manchester United first team until next season. The Old Trafford club captain has not appeared for United since suffering an ankle injury against Bolton over a year ago.

Neville is back in full training and has played three reserve team matches since the turn of the year. But with United chasing a league and European Cup double, he concedes this is not the best time for manager Sir Alex Ferguson to ease him back into the fold.

"I've played three times for the reserves since the turn of the year and this is the longest run I've been on in terms of training and playing games," said Neville. "It's going to take time for me to get back to full match sharpness after being out for so long. I'm probably a little bit away from first-team sharpness, but the only way I'll get that is by continuing to train with the first team.

"Hopefully I'll get a game somewhere, but that could prove difficult with the significance of the matches we have over the next few weeks. I just have to hope and pray that I get my chance at some point."