Neville: Levante defeat was unacceptable

Gary Neville has accepted responsibility as Valencia’s season hit a new low following their 1-0 derby defeat at the hands of Levante.

Neville and Valencia were lucky not to lose by more in what was one of the team’s worst performances since he took over in December last year.

The novice manager has been under increasing pressure since swapping TV punditry to full-time coaching and the former Manchester United captain made no excuses for himself or his players after the defeat.

“Today there is no defence. I apologise to our fans. I take all the responsibility, that performance was unacceptable,” he said.

“This defeat is not acceptable. [Levante] have fought for every ball and we simply have not been at that level.”

Valencia must now save their season in the Europa League against Athletic Bilbao, trailing their La Liga counterparts 1-0 after the first leg.

Neville said he was counting on a strong reaction from his players saying:

“On Thursday we’re not going to play with this level of [poor] intensity,” he said.

“We’ve got to stand up and say ‘Enough, that’s over’.”