Neville: Pre-season's Easier

Gary Neville believes pre-season training is easier for players than when he first broke into the United first team.

The former United captain feels the traditional methods of recovering any lack of fitness in close-season with arduous work have been consigned to the dustbin with the Reds and other clubs adopting a more modern-thinking approach.

"I've got to say football has moved on from the point where you're going on country runs," he explained. "You can extract the same amount of fitness from short football sessions, particularly when they're more football-related.

"In our latter years, pre-season seemed to get easier because it was more football-related and more game-related.

"You find now that flogging players on long runs, those old days are gone. In terms of being a football player, it's more suited and something that is better for the player.

"Times move on. I wish I was in the peak of my career but my time has gone. At the end of the day, I wish I was there in some ways but, with the current state of my body, I'm glad I'm not!"