Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher explain the story behind this famous photograph

Since retirement, there have been plenty of pictures of Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher smirking side by side in the Sky Sports studios.

But there are surprisingly few photographs of the defenders together from their playing days. That's largely due to the fact that the former Manchester United right back and the ex-Liverpool central defender seldom occupied the same part of the pitch when their clubs clashed with one another. But it happened on a few occasions and when it did, it was rarely a pleasant exchange. The most famous image of the duo from their playing days is the above one, which shows Carragher seemingly shoving away an incensed Neville. You've almost certainly seen it before but you might not know the story behind it. Ahead of Monday's meeting of Liverpool and United, Carragher and Neville sat down to discuss their respective experiences of the grudge match and they explained what happened in the build-up to one particular game from March of 2010. Speaking to Sky Sports, Carragher revealed that it all stemmed from a challenge from his then-teammate Javier Mascherano which resulted in a penalty. But Neville wanted the Argentine to see red and he was attempting to reach the referee in order to put pressure on him to make a decision. “I went straight to the referee because one of the big things in these games is if you can get someone sent off, you do it straight away,” said Neville. “He (Carragher) knew what I was doing and he would’ve done the same, by the way. In those days, you would go to the referee, talk to him and say ‘are you going to make a decision?’” That's when the photograph was taken. “I was trying to stop him getting to the referee because I knew what was coming," Carragher said. Meetings of these two clubs tend to be the most fiery of any fixture in English football and they often feature officials being surrounded by groups of players attempting to force the referee to make a call. “That was a pretty regular happening in Liverpool v United games, players moving each other away from the referee," Neville continued. “Part of the big games is influencing the referee. You had to. Arsenal did it, Liverpool did it, we did it. “Other clubs like Chelsea did it and I genuinely believe you could influence them. “Not in a way that makes them a cheat or dishonest, no, but just that the pressure of being in Anfield or Old Trafford with that weight, it’s not easy. “It can’t be easy to cope for one man to think they don’t know who is telling them the truth. He’s saying one thing, I’m saying exactly the opposite, the fans are saying something different, the managers are all up there and he’s got to keep cold and make a decision and you’re trying to influence that. “It wasn’t a massive part of the game, but it was part of the game that was there and this incident was over influencing the referee.” Catch up with the latest episode of Football Friday Live: