Roy Keane's first impression of Gary Neville explains why he gave him recent dressing down

Roy Keane knew instantly that Gary Neville was a special talent at Manchester United - and that explains why he recently slammed him for putting himself down.

Neville is widely regarded as one of the best right-backs in Premier League history thanks to his 19-year career at Old Trafford, where he won eight league titles and two Champions Leagues. The now-Sky Sports pundit remains surprisingly humble and nonchalant about his career, however, regularly making self-deprecating comments during his appearances on television and podcasts.

That led to him being told off by his former Red Devils captain Keane and Ian Wright during coverage of England’s 2-1 last-16 win over Slovakia on ITV, where Neville was praising the high quality within the England squad. The 49-year-old jokingly put himself down by saying: “You know this isn’t a team of Nevilles.”

READ MORE: Wayne Rooney aims light-hearted dig at ex-Man United team-mate Gary Neville after starting new job

READ MORE: Roy Keane's crude four-word ITV remark leaves Man United icon Gary Neville stunned

Keane interjected: "Why are you putting yourself down?" while Wright added: "Yeah, we’ve told you about that".

Keane’s thoughts on Neville as a high quality defender were already made clear recently. Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Neville explained that he felt he didn’t belong in the United dressing room when he was being integrated into the first-team, surrounded by his boyhood heroes.

The ex-England international said: “Honestly, I used to go in there and get changed. I remember that I used to walk back into my own dressing room after I’d got changed. It was massively overwhelming, in terms of the presence of the people in the dressing room.

“I’ve got goosebumps