The 33-year-old has made only one first-team appearance since last March after a serious ankle injury while he has also been dogged by calf problems.

A calf strain has ruled him out of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's testimonial today, although manager Sir Alex Ferguson is hopeful he will be fit to face Juventus on Wednesday.

"I genuinely believe, in my heart of hearts, with the way that I felt at the end of last season, that I will come back this season," Neville told the Times.

"I've trained through the summer and I genuinely feel I'll be fine, but until you've gone out there and done it, it means nothing.

"I've got to go and do the very best I can to (stay) at Manchester United because that's the only place where I really want to play football," added Neville, whose contract expires next summer.

"Hopefully I can keep (retirement) at bay for another couple of years or so."