Neville hails Venables

Phil Neville has hailed the impact made by Terry Venables since the former England manager returned to the international set-up as Steve McClaren's number two.

Neville is the only player in the current squad to have first-hand experience of Venables' managerial skills with England from Euro 96. He believes Venables has already made his presence count as England prepare for the European Championships qualifiers with Andorra and Macedonia.

"Because he is not the manager, he is not as vocal but he has an aura of calmness about him and he is very positive and encourages players to express themselves," Neville said. "There is no negativity surrounding him at all and it's probably the whole ethos of the new England set-up - that positivity surrounding everyone in the camp."

He added: "If you speak to anyone involved with Terry Venables leading up to Euro 96, they'd say since then he's been wasted being out of international football.

"Even though I was only 19 at the time, Terry Venables made a large impression on me because of the way he encouraged players to be really positive, from goalkeepers to defenders, right through to the attackers.

"He wants you to play on the front foot. He doesn't like you playing negatively and, in terms of the quality of football, Euro 96 was probably as good as the country has seen since the 1966 World Cup-winning team."