Neville delays linking up with England to take Valencia training

Gary Neville will delay linking up with the England squad to take Valencia training in the coming days, he confirmed after his side lost 2-0 at home to Celta Vigo on Sunday.

A run of three straight La Liga defeats has increased the pressure on Neville, who was expected to join Roy Hodgson’s coaching staff on Monday ahead of friendlies against Germany and Holland.

Neville faced chants for his resignation from the Mestalla stands towards the end of Sunday’s game and the England coach responded by announcing he will be staying at Valencia until towards end of next week.

“I have just spoken to Roy Hodgson and I am going to stay back in Valencia,” Neville told the media.

“The players train Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday this week. I feel it’s the right thing to do.

“Obviously it’s not an ideal situation, in respect to the fact that before I came here I’m the assistant coach for the national team of England, with 60 million people, but I understand the two or three million people in Valencia need my attention this week.

“The [England] game is on Saturday, so I will go on Thursday afternoon. I think it’s right that I support the players and coaches here for these three days.

“The players are off from Thursday until Sunday, so I will miss one and a half sessions [next week], which I think is acceptable.

“You’ll [the media] report it as panic, but it is not panic, it is something that’s important.”

Neville added he is not considering standing down despite Valencia’s lowly position in La Liga, with the club occupying 14th place in the table, just six points above the relegation zone.

“We must focus on the last eight games of the season,” Neville said.

“From my point of view, the situation is not good and results not good enough.

“The fans are rightly frustrated, me too.”