Veteran Manchester United defender Gary Neville announced his retirement last week after a career spanning 20 years at Old Trafford and Newcastle full back Danny Simpson is hoping to emulate his hero.
The 23 year old was just a youngster at Manchester United when Neville was the club's and country's premier right-back.
"Gary Neville and Denis Irwin showed me that being at a club like United, you need to get seven or eight every week and just be solid," Simpson told skysports.com.
"Gary especially really helped me out a lot. When he was injured he would do extra work and he was always talking to me about how to improve, because we played in the same position.
"He would talk to me about defending and made me realise that you had to try and get forward and be involved in the attacks as well.
"It wasn't until David Beckham left that people realised just how good a crosser of the ball that Gary was."
