PHIL Neville believes Malaga are the perfect opponents to help Everton fine-tune for their high-profile Premier League opener against Manchester United.
The Blues skipper insists that tonight’s final summer friendly against the Spanish Champions League hopefuls will provide the step-up in pedigree that David Moyes’ players need to ensure they hit the ground running on August 20.
Everton take on a club which finished fourth in La Liga last season, although the Andalucians have been plunged into turmoil after their owner Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Thani, a member of Qatar’s royal family, announced he was no longer willing to bank-roll them.
Nevertheless, Malaga have several quality internationals, despite the sales of Santi Cazorla and Jose Rondon, and Neville is confident they will test Everton’s preparedness.
He said: “We had more energy against AEK Athens and you could see that in our play but Malaga will provide the opposition we really need.
“We played Blackpool last Sunday and got beat and it was pretty flat. We’d had a hard week beforehand, we trained pretty hard and we had a practice game indoors so we got a lot of fitness last week.
“I think Malaga is going to be a big step up in levels of competition. We need a good test now going into the season. We’ve played some decent teams but a sterner test away from home where we’re going to have to concentrate, will stand us in good stead for the United game.
Tony Hibbert, who celebrated his testimonial on Wednesday night by scoring during the 4-1 win over AEK, thinks Moyes will keep everyone guessing about his starting line-up to face United.
“We have still got one more game before Man United and some of the lads still need to get a game under the belts,” he said. “We are still working on our sharpness but I think we are getting closer.
“I don't think the manager will play his starting line-up against Malaga, it'll be trying to get the fitness up to a proper Premier League standard. Malaga will give us a chance to do that.”
Meanwhile Goodison trio Leighton Baines, Jack Rodwell, and Phil Jagielka have all been included in the England squad for Wednesday's friendly against Italy.
Roy Hodgson has selected several uncapped players in the squad, as the Three Lions boss opts to rest his established senior players after Euro 2012.
Jagielka has not featured in Everton's last two friendlies having been rested as a precaution while he nurses a ham-string complaint, but is expected to feature against Malaga tonight.
Steven Naismith has also been called up to the Scotland squad for their game against Australia.
