PHIL NEVILLE will hold talks over his Everton FC future next month as he ponders extending his Goodison commitment.
Neville reaches the end of his present contract at the end of the season with David Moyes having previously intimidated he would gladly offer the club skipper another 12-month deal.
However, the 36-year-old has deferred talks with Goodison officials until March.
And while Neville strongly believes he can play on “two to three years”, it is thought the utility man will only do so at Goodison provided he can remain effective at a high level.
Neville – who could make his 300th Everton appearance against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday – has made no secret of his desire to move into coaching and management.
Last year he helped coach England Under-21s for a game against Belgium and intends to complete his A licence coaching badges this summer.
Moyes has already tied up a 12-month extension for 35-year-old Sylvain Distin while Everton remain hopeful of completing a new deal for England international Leon Osman.
Everton make the short journey down the East Lancs Road on Sunday aiming to strengthen their claims for Champions League qualification by recording a first win at Old Trafford in more than 20 years.
The Goodison outfit stand just three points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, but so tightly bunched is the top half that only 12 points separates Chelsea in third from West Bromwich Albion in ninth.
And Moyes believes every point will count in the final 13 games.
“The Premier League at present is a really closely contested division with not a lot between many sides in the table, and that’s been noticeable in many of the games in recent months,” he said.
“I’ve always felt that 40 points should be the first target of the season. We now have to try and push on and keep picking up more points as we go along.
“To stay in the top part of the table is going to be a big task for us, but I am confident in the way the players are performing and our history suggests we do pick up good results in the second part of the season.”
Moyes added: “It’s been good to get Kevin Mirallas and Darron Gibson back playing some football and it will be really important that we get Tony Hibbert and Seamus Coleman back as quickly as we possibly can.
“There is no doubting that we have a challenging end to the season and that’s why we will be taking it one game at a time. And we’ll need all our players to be available.”
Marouane Fellaini took his tally to the season for 11 goals with the brace that earned a dramatic 3-3 draw against Aston Villa on Saturday.
Fellaini netted in the 4-4 draw at Manchester United last season and also scored the only goal in the opening weekend win over Sir Alex Ferguson’s side back in August.
And the Belgian said: “Every game against Manchester United is a good game. It’s a big challenge but everyone wants to play Champions League so it is important to keep going and win every game.”
