Manchester United legend Gary Neville has praised Steve Davis and Crewe Alexandra for fielding their homespun XI on the weekend.

Crewe defeated Walsall with a team totally made up from the academy.

England coach Neville said: "I've been harping on about this for a couple of months and some people will say I'm just an England coach making excuses - but it's staring us in the face.

"I keep hearing value for money but when I walk into a supermarket and see a three-for-one deal the first thing I do is wonder what's wrong with it. It sounds like a good deal, an easy quick fix but for me I don't get it.

"We've benefited hugely from having foreign players in this country, no more than Newcastle with Albert, Ginola and Asprilla who actually set the Premier League alight for years, but the tipping point has gone.

"At the weekend there was a club called Crewe Alexandra who played 11 academy players. Why did they do that? They made a big statement and we should support that. They should have been on the back pages of every single newspaper for what they did at the weekend [and they won as well]."