Manchester United defender Gary Neville has revealed he thought he was about to be released by the club at the end of last season

Neville, who did not sign a new one-year deal until the end of April, believed he had just three weeks left at the club before finally joining fellow veterans Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes in signing a new deal.

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"I turned round during training one morning and said 'I have three games to go at Manchester United','' said Neville at a sponsorship announcement for Singha Beer.  "I had not spoken to the club and I genuinely felt it could be the last three weeks.  The club didn't owe me anything and I was more than happy. I was enjoying myself. In some ways, my best football came in a period I thought I was just going to enjoy.

"Because of my injuries, I have thought about the fact I might have to find something else. Two years ago I thought it would be my last season. Obviously last year I felt the same. I recognise this one could be as well.  I am on a one-year contract.  If I don't perform or I feel the club don't want me anymore I will be gone.  That is life. In the 19 years I have been here, it has happened to better players.  What keeps me going is the thought of running out at Old Trafford and winning trophies.

"It is all I have known since I came to my first match when I was four.  If I was anywhere else I would struggle.  At this stage of my career, my motivation is to extract every since ounce of enjoyment I can.  I want to contribute to a team that can win things.  That is all I have ever wanted to do.

"My career has been in three distinct parts.  I had the pre-first-team time, then from 19 to nearly 33, it was virtually flawless.  I was always on the teamsheet and regularly playing nearly 50 games a season.  Then I got the injury and was missing for 18 months.  Coming back I felt as though the game had moved on and found it really difficult to adapt.

"I feel as though I am starting again. I have had to build myself up from the bottom. Now I have to target 30 games.  There are periods where I have to be ready for the manager to use me. You can almost tell when those times will be. Coming up to Christmas when the pitches start to get a bit rougher and experience is required. Post-Christmas when some of the younger players have had six months and need a rest."