Neville was solid against Wales on Saturday, keeping his Manchester United clubmate Ryan Giggs at bay and helping England to a fine 2-0 victory.

But the defender says England haven't qualified for the World Cup Finals yet, despite seven points from three games, and they cannot afford any slip-ups.

He said: "The truth is we have plenty of games to go, no-one can say we're already there.

"After Austria we were supposedly in ruins, now I suppose everybody will say we're going to top the group easily - and neither is true.

"There is still a long way to go in this group, we have only played three matches. But we want to win the group, no doubt about it. We're all aiming for top place because we want to play in the World Cup Finals. That's the mentality and we're staying focused.

"We go into Wednesday's game against Azerbaijan in a good frame of mind but we have to make sure we play in the same manner as we did against Wales. It' s a different game away from home but the principles are the same and we have to go there and be professional and do a good job."

Neville's attitude will come as no surprise to anyone who knows him - the United man is one of the best talkers in the England camp and more than capable of delivering a rousing pre-match speech.

But he was in no mood to talk-up Saturday's victory over Wales and doesn't want anyone to get carried away.

He said: "We were just concerned with getting three points. We played quite well in Austria but didn't win, so this time we were determined to complete the job.

"It might have looked like we were passing for the sake of passing at times, but we knew had to be patient, we knew that if we tried to force it through it would just play into their hands.

"All week we just talked about passing the ball and trying to force Wales out of shape. We were never going to try and score with route one, we had to pass it through them. And it worked well."

It was Neville's big mate David Beckham who clinched victory in the end at Old Trafford, scoring a stunning goal to make it 2-0 and wrap up the points.

"It was a fantastic goal and it came just at the right time when you thought that Wales might have put in a late spurt," said Neville.

"The goal really settled everybody and made sure it was comfortable for us in the last 15 minutes.

"It will be a big blow to be without David on Wednesday because of suspension but if we can win the game then perhaps it won't seem so bad. Everyone knew he was on a yellow and we wouldn't have wanted to be without him against the likes of Poland, Austria or Wales in Cardiff.

"He's a great player for us and if he was going to miss a game, you would probably choose this one. We just have to make sure we win it without him."

He added: "We all want to be in Germany at the end of this campaign, that's what we're aiming for."