Fergie: Phil your boots

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The Everton captain openly admitted he could not celebrate in front of the Manchester United fans after he stroked home his effort in the penalty shoot-out that eventually helped seal a May 30 showdown with Chelsea. Instead, Neville made his way to the Toffees faithful before acknowledging his satisfaction.

And Ferguson, who had the 32-year-old under his control for a decade before letting him leave for Goodison Park in 2005, said: "Phil is one of the special people in the game so I hope he is picking up that cup."

He added: "Everyone knows his connection to Manchester United. He was here so long as a kid.

"I know he was captaining Everton in a semi-final but don't tell me there was not one small part in him that was saying, 'Christ I am going to knock Manchester United out of the cup here'.

"It goes to show you the integrity of the man. He is a fantastic person and no-one in the game deserves it more than he does."

Neville knows he owes his opportunity to Ferguson's decision to field a team packed with youngsters on Sunday.

It is a call the Scot insists was right, particularly with a Barclays Premier League encounter with Portsmouth looming on Wednesday.

"I am absolutely convinced I picked the right team," he said. "I have no regrets about it at all.

"I knew there would be some criticism because it did not work for us. What I did was make sure our supporters were going to see a representation, not just of the future, but a squad that is strong enough to be able to cope."