If there are times, nigh on a year since he last pulled on an England shirt, when Phil Neville wonders whether he and his brother will add to their combined total of 144 international caps, the self-doubt does not last for long. Inspiration is all around him: in his brother’s career, in that of his twin sister, an England basketball international, and above all in the story of his daughter, Isabella, whose every step serves as a reminder that nothing is impossible.

When Isabella was 18 months old, her parents, Phil and Julie, were told that she had cerebral palsy and might never be able to walk. It was, Phil said, a devastating piece of news, but neither he nor his wife accepted it. “We came home and immediately started to redesign our house, putting rails and ramps up everywhere,” he said. “We made it virtually impossible for her not to walk. We never allowed her to sit down and we never allowed her to accept what the doctors said. She started using the rails to stand up and then one day she took those first couple of steps and went on from there — 15 steps. It was one of those moments where you’re thinking, ‘Am I dreaming this?’ ”

Phil describes his daughter, now 4 and buzzing around the room as he tries to answer questions, as “a determined little character”. Determination has long been a byword for the Nevilles, the most accomplished sporting family in recent British history.

In the sporting arena, recent years have brought testing times for the family, but, just as Tracey defied medical opinion to return to netball after the knee problem that seemed to have forced her into retirement, so Gary has recovered from a career-threatening ankle injury to reclaim the captaincy of Manchester United. They are, as their father has been known to remark, “a tough lot”.

Toughness is required of Phil now, as he looks to rally his Everton team-mates after a disappointing start to their season. “Going out of the Uefa Cup was a massive disappointment for me,” he said. “But I’m a really positive person and I don’t think we could have two better games to turn the season around than the two we’ve got coming up. I really believe that. As captain, it’s my responsibility to help us turn things around.”

Responsibility is not something that Phil shirks, judging by his and his wife’s dedication to an appeal to raise £20 million to build a new children’s hospital in Manchester. It is a cause that is understandably close to their hearts and this week it took them to four schools in the North West as they continued their efforts to help to increase awareness of the campaign and to raise the remaining £5 million to meet the target.

In an ideal world, of course, Phil would be spending this week in the England camp, looking to add to his total of 59 caps, but he has not figured in a squad under Fabio Capello and nor, because of injury, has Gary, his elder brother. It is strange even to imagine that England may have seen the last of the Neville brothers as international players and it is something that Phil, at 31, declines to contemplate.

“I’m not panicking because I was out of the squad for eight or nine months under Sven-Göran Eriksson,” he said. “It’s down to me to convince Fabio Capello that I’m worthy of a place. I definitely expect Gary to get back in. He’s still the best right back in England. If he had been fit, I’m sure he would have been in this squad. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the Nevilles playing for England, not at all.”

And if ever they doubt it, they need only look at Isabella, tottering around with a big grin that moves her father every time he sees it. “She is,” he said, “an inspiration”.