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Gary Neville has defended Jack Wilshere over his infamous FA Cup open-top bus parade rant: "It was one of the best things I've seen in 10 years."

The Arsenal midfielder hit the headlines following the Gunners triumph in May when he led fans in a derogatory chant about Tottenham, which subsequently saw him slapped with an FA charge.

But while many have castigated Wilshere for his actions Neville takes a wholly different view.

"When Jack Wilshere swore on a bus ride, I actually thought it was one of the best things Ive seen from a football player in the last five or 10 years," he told Sport magazine.

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"If I was a manager of players that all had that passion... Alright, they'd obviously been out the night before.

"But the reality of it is we cry out for players to have passion, and yet we are quite critical of them when they display passion."

Neville was no stranger to controversy in his Manchester United career, famously taunting Liverpool fans after a late winner in 2006.

FA Cup Final parade: Best pictures

But despite defending Wilshere he did disagree with the England man over one particular element.

"There were moments in my career where I... overstepped the mark," he added. "I actually challenged every FA charge I had, so that's the difference. Jack took the punishment!"