England close to Rio strike: Neville

GARY NEVILLE has revealed the fall-out from the Rio Ferdinand affair still rankles with the England squad and that the players were closer than first thought to pulling out of the crucial Euro 2004 qualifier in Turkey.

The Manchester United right-back, as one of the senior players, was widely believed to be one of the ringleaders who led calls for a boycott of the game in Istanbul following Ferdinand's omission after it emerged he missed a drugs test.

Football Association officials played down the seriousness of the threat and England qualified for next summer's European Championships in Portugal after a 0-0 draw.

However, Neville claimed a strike was real possibility.

"It was pretty close. We were brassed off we still are," he said.

"It was just frustrating for us, we didn't like what had happened to him and still don't like what has happened to him.

"We just did what we felt was right. Probably the best thing that happened was we made the point, because it showed we had something about us.

"There definitely were thoughts in my head that it (the game) would not go ahead. It was such an injustice they could have done it to any of us next time."

Ferdinand missed a random drugs test at United's Carrington training ground back in September and after a drawn-out disciplinary process was banned for eight months following a two-day hearing at Bolton's Reebok Stadium nearly a fortnight ago.

The player is still deciding whether to appeal against the severity of the penalty Manchester City's Christian Negouai was fined £2,000 for a similar offence last season but must do so a week before the suspension begins on January 12.

But Neville revealed his United team-mates and manager Alex Ferguson would stand by Ferdinand no matter what the outcome.

"Rio has been fantastic right the way through it. We all have personal problems but as soon as you get out there on the pitch you forget about it," Neville told MUTV.

"He will always get support from his team-mates and his club. The manager here will never hang a player out to dry. We would always back a team-mate no matter what they did.

"People make mistakes, do things that are wrong. You can't say 'He has done something wrong so we forget about him', you get behind him, that is the way life is.

"It has brought the dressing room closer. When that sentence was read out I think everybody was in a position of disbelief.

"I think everyone, no matter what your position was, must have been shocked when that eight-month ban came out. I couldn't believe it.

"We feel for Rio because while he made a mistake we don't think he should be missing matches. We are human beings, not robots.

"That makes us (Manchester United) stronger and it always has done. You ask to be treated the same as the next guy and that has not happened to Rio.

"I think he was compromised when he was left out of the England team. It was not fair from there on in."