When Roy Keane chased Phil Neville down the tunnel to have a go

Phil Neville has suffered the wrath of Roy Keane on more than one occasion.

Neville played with Roy Keane for 11 years at Manchester United and has previously revealed an incident where the no-nonsense Irishman shoved him during a match at Sunderland.

That wasn’t the only time that Neville received an earful from Keane as the former England international has now opened up on the biggest kick up the backside he received in his entire career.

That came courtesy of the realisation that he hadn’t prepared well enough for a European match in Hungary and Keane was the first one to give Neville a piece of his mind after full-time.

Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, Neville said: “We played a pre-Champions League qualifier and I’d played all preseason. We were playing out in Hungary and Sir Alex named the team in the morning and I wasn’t in it. He played Wes Brown and I was devastated.

“It was the only time that I’ve ever really been affected by selection and it was the only time I’ve not had the ‘get on with it Phil’ [mindset].

“I remember going back to my room. I didn’t have my normal pre-match meal. I ate more than what I probably normally would do and then I went back to my room and was on my phone all afternoon when I’d normally have a two or three hour sleep. I watched television. I came down to pre-match and didn’t have my normal pre-match meal. I’ve got to say, I didn’t wear my lucky boxer shorts. I’d gone, in a way.

“Two minutes into the game, Wes Brown breaks his ankle. I go on to the pitch, play the game but in the last minute of the game, a ball comes over the top, I miss the ball and they scored. We lost 1-0.

“I’ll never forget Roy Keane came running down the tunnel having a go at me. And I remember not hearing a word but just thinking that I deserved it.

“Nobody else really knew about it but I knew myself and that was the biggest kick up up the backside I’ve ever had.”

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