Almost exactly a year ago, Neville led the call for strike action in response to Ferdinand being thrown out of the England squad for a crime he was yet to be found guilty of committing.

Even now, the Red Devils full-back believes Britain’s most expensive player was unfairly treated by the Football Association as then chief executive Mark Palios looked for a scapegoat on which to skewer his get-tough policy.

Neville admits he feared for Ferdinand when the massive suspension was handed down and did not expect to see his team-mate again until the summer.

Instead, he was left staggered by the defender’s dedication. Not one day training missed, not one unglamorous task turned down. A model professional in Neville’s eyes.

“I never expected that anybody could show the professionalism Rio showed over that eight months,” said the United full-back.

“When he first got the ban I didn’t expect to see him again in the summer but instead he came into training every day and gave his all.

“It was a dog’s job in a way. He had to play against the first team in training all the time because he wasn’t available, yet still maintained the same focus as if he was preparing for a game.

“I don’t think many players would have been able to do that. If you take away the chance of playing a game for a footballer, you are taking away their life.

“He was probably at the right club to maintain his professionalism, somewhere where he wasn’t just allowed to go off and have a few months off.

“But he still did everything right and gained a lot of respect from everyone because of it.”

Alex Ferguson has already observed Ferdinand’s return has not just added extra quality to United’s defence, it has also galvanised the players around him.

That is precisely the reason why Sven-Goran Eriksson will restore him to the heart of England’s rearguard at the weekend alongside Sol Campbell, even though John Terry and Ledley King have performed creditably in their absence.

“I thought Rio and Sol were the two best defenders at the last World Cup and Rio especially had a case for being the best central defender in the world,” said Neville.

“He has all the qualities you would look for in a defender. He is good on the ball, strong and quick.

"He has a huge presence and his composure spreads throughout the team. Basically, he has the lot.”

Ferdinand is not the only returning England man Neville reserves high praise for.

The 29-year-old was almost equally effusive about Wayne Rooney, who has not been seen on the international scene since he broke his foot in the Euro 2004 quarter-final defeat to Portugal.

By that point, Rooney had already established himself as one of the finest teenage talents on the planet.

The £27m (€39.1m) capture from Everton only added to his reputation with his devastating debut-day hat-trick for United against Fenerbahce last week, which drew such praise Ferguson has had to send out a message to his team to draw back before unleashing more lavish plaudits on the youngster.

Neville tried to obey, he really did, twice halting himself in mid-flow. But it was no use. He just had to carry on.

“Everybody in the country was excited by his performances during Euro 2004 and everybody who has a ticket for Saturday will want to watch him play,” he said.

“That is why Manchester United couldn’t afford to let him go anywhere else.

“He is a quiet lad but he has already had a big impact at Manchester United. When you sign someone of that size and stature within the game, it lifts the whole club.

“I suffered the same injury as he did a few years ago and I found it really difficult to come back after such a long time out. It didn’t appear Wayne had the same problem.

“He had a fantastic match and that performance catapulted him straight back into the England side.”

That one game was certainly enough to convince Eriksson to allocate Rooney one of the two striking roles in the side to face Wales, landing the Swede with a dilemma over whether hand the other to Michael Owen or Jermain Defoe.

At one stage yesterday, it appeared Eriksson would not have a choice to make as rumours surfaced that Owen had ruled himself out of the eagerly-awaited Old Trafford clash.

The Real Madrid striker dispelled that speculation within hours and did enough during a solo workout at United’s Carrington training ground this morning to see him play a full part in the second half of the session under Eriksson’s supervision.

Providing Owen suffers no reaction to the back problem that arose at the weekend and comes through tomorrow’s planned session without a hitch, Eriksson will be left to choose between a man who has scored an incredible 27 times for his country but has hardly played a game since leaving Liverpool in the summer or an exciting young talent who celebrates his 22nd birthday tomorrow and broke his international duck against Poland a month ago.

The odds, it seems, are in favour of Owen’s experience.