By Simon Austin

Neville has won 59 caps in his 11-year England career

Everton skipper Phil Neville believes more England players could retire prematurely from international football if the demands on them are not reduced.

Jamie Carragher quit England in July, while Paul Scholes stopped playing for his country in 2004 - both were 29.

"It wouldn't surprise me if you see other players going down that route. I've thought about it a number of times," Neville told BBC Sport.

"The demands are such that something has got to give."

Neville, who has won 59 England caps in an international career spanning 11 years, insisted he would never turn his back on his country.

"For me, playing for England is still the pinnacle and always will be," he said.

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But he added that the demands of the domestic and international schedule were making it increasingly difficult for England's players.

"You're seeing top-class Premiership players retiring from international football when they've still got their best years ahead of them," he said.

"And you ask yourself 'why?' It's because they're playing Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday-Wednesday.

"They're away from home maybe three weeks in the month, and they're not seeing their families as much as they should.

"I totally understand why they concentrate on their club careers.

"Sometimes in life something's got to give and for certain players it's international football.

We've been to major championships the last couple of times and players have been fatigued Phil Neville

"If you spoke to (England manager) Steve (McClaren), he would probably tell you that the (amount of) football we play in this country hinders his job as well."

The 30-year-old believes altering the domestic schedule and implementing a winter break would ease the load on England's players.

"You end the domestic season in early May, then we have an international on 6 June," he said.

"For three weeks you've got to train and play friendly games, all because the season is crammed into a short space of time.

"Maybe if we extended the season by two or three weeks, it would fit in with the international calendar and help England.

"We've been to major championships the last couple of times and players have been fatigued."

The only major European leagues that do not have breaks are England and Portugal and Neville says he can see the benefits of changing the Premier League schedule.

"Halfway through the season you might need a little break and then a mini pre-season to get your fitness up again," he said.

"Then you attack the second half of the season like you did the start of the season, feeling totally fresh and looking forward to it."