Ex-England Roses Coach Tracey Neville has revealed she suffered a miscarriage just a day after steering her team to gold at the Commonwealth Games.

Neville, who lead England to their first major title on the Gold Coast in April 2018, stepped down after the Roses' bronze at the Vitality Netball World cup in Liverpool this summer saying she wanted to focus on starting her own family.

The 42-year-old has since announced on instagram that she and her partner Michael Timmins, are expecting their first child.

Today, the champion coach revealed that it was not all celebrations after the historic Commonwealth victory, saying: "I had a miscarriage and then I went into a three-hour media fest to celebrate what is something that I'd been waiting something like 30 years for.

"You think to yourself: 'This can't be right.' You see other ladies who have been through traumatic situations take time off work, but I just wasn't willing to do that."

Talking of her team she added: "This was my family, this was my commitment. I didn't want to miss this journey that the Roses were on because, in a way - and it's awful to say - the Roses were my priority."

She made the announcement of her retirement after January's International Quad Series and has since revealed that she suffered a second miscarriage at Christmas in the lead up to it.

Describing the decision as "one of the most difficult" of her life, she explained the post-series empty-nest syndrome helped her make the move saying: "It was when the girls had gone back to their clubs and then reality started to hit."

Remarking that she was keen to have children but knew that forcing it would not be constructive, she said: "I looked at taking a sabbatical but I'd be putting huge pressure on myself to get pregnant and we all know it doesn't work like that."

She also praised her Roses girls for their support after she told them of her tough decision. "The girls were amazing," she said. "They knew how important it was to me, they knew how much Michael meant to me and my family."

Neville also added that she is fully supportive of new Roses coach Jess Thirlby but has not ruled out her own future in the sport. "Yes, I want the opportunity to be part of the Roses. What capacity that looks like I don't know.

"It might not be in the next year as I need this time out but netball has been part of my life since I was five-years-old and it's something that I want to be part of whether that's at national or international level.

"I still have aspirations. I'm hoping this is going to be a really positive break for me to sit back and decide what I want to do next."