Gary Neville says he’s feeling no nerves ahead of managerial debut as he aims to keep Valencia’s Champions League hopes alive.
"I don't know if it's dangerous but I don't feel anxious at all"
The Manchester United defender will be in the dug-out as a boss for the first time on Wednesday as his Valencia side take on Olympique Lyonnais of France at home.
This will be a high-pressure baptism for the eight-time English Premier League winner, but Neville remains unfazed by the challenge.
"I don't know if it's dangerous but I don't feel anxious at all," he said on Tuesday.
"Maybe that's good, maybe that's bad. I don't know as I've never been in this position before.
"Obviously, I've been a coach with England and I don't feel anxious before England games either.
“Maybe I did as a player a little bit, but as a coach I've never felt that way working under Roy (Hodgson) with England and I don't feel that way today," added Neville, who won two Champions League medals with Manchester United.
The former full-back has worked as England coach under Hodgson and as a widely-respected television analyst since retiring in 2011.
But he always made it clear that he wanted to get involved in management.
In Group H Valencia trail second placed Ghent by a point with one game remaining.
In order to advance they must achieve a better result the Belgians in their meeting with Zenit St Petersburg, who have booked their place in the next round as group winners with a perfect record so far.
The La Liga side won their earlier meeting with the French club, who are bottom of the standings and eliminated, 1-0.
"What we do control is our match and we have to focus on that," noted Neville, who said the chance of managing Valencia was too good an offer to turn down.
"If, after that match we haven't got the result that we want in the other game, then that's life. The most important thing is concentrating on our direct opponent and not focusing on what's going on elsewhere."
Neville was in the stands, picture above, of the sold-out Mestalla on Saturday when his team secured a point against La Liga leaders Barcelona amid the kind of atmosphere the new coach wants at the historic old ground.
"Obviously, it was against a fantastic opponent - Barcelona are one of the best teams in Europe,” he said.
“But I think the players set themselves a standard of what they're capable of in terms of the hard work, the organisation, the spirit, the endurance to keep going," he said.
"I said I wanted the Mestalla to be a horrible place for opponents to play and I think that for Barcelona on Saturday, for part of that game it was uncomfortable."
