Neville will become only the fifth player to break the 600 barrier for United, following Ryan Giggs, Sir Bobby Charlton, Bill Foulkes and Paul Scholes, if he faces Rangers in the Champions League Group C opener.
But having been struck by a series of injuries in recent seasons, Neville has found himself reduced to a squad player rather than the automatic first choice of his younger days. And with Nemanja Vidic having worn the captain's armband since the start of the season, Neville admitted he was not surprised to see the Serbian defender retain the captaincy when the pair lined up together at Everton last Saturday.
Neville said: "It is something myself and the manager spoke about last season when it was obvious I wasn't going to play most matches.
"I was captain one week, then it was Ryan Giggs, then it was Rio Ferdinand and Edwin van der Sar. That is not ideal.
"You need someone leading the team out every week. It makes sense for that to happen because, as the manager said, I am not going to play every week.
"The captaincy is a great honour, but it has never been the major priority for me. I played here for most of my career not as captain, so to not be captain now is not unusual."
Ferdinand's anticipated return from a three-month knee injury lay-off on Tuesday night could prompt Ferguson to choose between the England captain and Vidic for the honour of leading United out.
But with Ferguson insisting that his new captain must be someone who will play regularly, Ferdinand's patchy fitness record could count against him.
Ferguson said: "Gary is still club captain, but the situation is that I have been looking for someone who is going to be playing consistently every week.
"Over the last two or three years, and Gary agrees with me, we have had to pass the baton along the line a few times.
"We have not had a consistent captain. Gary's injuries have prevented him playing all the time. If he was available all the time he would be the captain.
"He would have been captain against Everton on Saturday, but I have to look at the overall picture and, with all due respect to Gary's time at United, he knows and I know, we don't play him every week.
"I am looking for someone who is going to play every week as part of the criteria to be captain at our club."
Ferguson, meanwhile, believes Rangers' supporters will behave at Old Trafford on Tuesday night on their first visit to Manchester since violence followed their 2008 Uefa Cup final defeat against Zenit St Petersburg at Eastlands.
He said: "It pained me that some of the visiting supporters of the Scottish side ran amok in the city centre. But I have every confidence that we can stage a trouble-free game. We have worked hard on the security aspect."
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