Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is looking to skipper Gary Neville to step up his preseason comeback during their tour of South Africa and Nigeria.

"For Gary in particular this trip is very important," said Ferguson. "He came through his 45 minutes at Aberdeen on Saturday with no problem at all, which is fantastic news.

"The great thing about Gary is that he has not missed a training session since the last time he came back in April.

"We could have played him at the end of the season but Wes was doing so well.

"His form was so good I didn't want to have doubts in my mind about picking him. Wes (Brown) had played in every game, so we kept it like that.

"But now, a new season is about to start and Gary will get his chance."