Manchester United pair Paul Scholes and Gary Neville were given a dual tribute by the Football Writers' Association yesterday.

Scholes has drawn plaudits from all quarters and was praised by another hero of Old Trafford, Sir Bobby Charlton.

He said: "You shouldn't have favourites I suppose but Paul was special.

"He had a natural ability that was breathtaking to see in a young boy and his peripheral vision was amazing."

Neville, too, was quick to praise his long time team-mate and friend.

He said: "As a player he is a great player and the best I've ever played with and to be fair most players who have played with him or against him say the same thing.

"You can think about people who played for the club for three, four or five years and had a great impact but Scholesy and Ryan (Giggs) have played for the club for 20 years and had an impact season after season.

"When you see him getting mentioned in the same league as (Zinedine) Zidane and Xavi, which he constantly does, not by me but by people who know much more about the game than me and who have played against him."