Neville confirms FA appeal

Gary Neville has confirmed he is appealing against his FA punishment.

The England international was fined £5,000 and given a warning as to his future conduct after racing towards the away fans and kissing his club badge when United beat their bitter rivals 1-0 thanks to a late Rio Ferdinand goal.

After learning of his punishment Neville had hit out at the footballing authorities for the direction they were taking the game in - insisting that such punishments demanded modern players to behave as robots 'devoid of passion and spirit'.

Now the Red Devils captain has continued to fight the charge by confirming he will appeal against the decision.

"I still believe that my celebration against Liverpool at Old Trafford has been blown out of all proportion and I do not think it constituted improper conduct or bringing the game into disrepute which is why I am appealing the FA decision," Neville wrote in his column in The Times.

"I know people say that £5,000 is nothing to a Premiership footballer, but I would have contested the fine if it was 50p.

"To accept it would be to admit guilt and my punishment sets a bad precedent at a time when people say that there should be more interaction between players and the fans."

Neville is also looking towards the World Cup finals in June, and the owner of 76 international caps has dismissed fears that the announcement of Sven Goran Eriksson's departure will adversely affect preparations in the England camp.

"It is six months since I played for my country, so it will be good to be back in the fold," Neville continued.

"During my absence it has been announced that Sven Goran Eriksson will be leaving his position after the World Cup finals, but I have no fears about that decision affecting our chances of winning in Germany.

"We were in exactly the same position at Euro 96, knowing that Terry Venables would soon be replaced by Glenn Hoddle, but it did us no harm at all."

Neville will travel to Germany as one of England's senior men, and the United defender is well aware that the nation's press will be hitting overdrive as the build-up to the tournament begins.

Controversy was sparked before the European Championship in 1996 when a number of England players were pictured indulging in the famous alcohol-fuelled 'dentist's chair' treatment in Hong Kong, but Neville believes that further scandal will have no impact once the tournament begins.

"There will be a lot of talk about the succession and you can be sure that there will be some pre-World Cup scandal in the media - there always is, whether it is justified or not.

"We had it before Euro 96 with the trip to the Far East, but none of those headlines had the slightest effect once the first match kicked off."