Gary Neville insisted he would not resign as Valencia coach despite admitting he felt "helpless" during a humiliating 7-0 defeat to Barcelona on Wednesday night.

Neville's team were torn apart in a Copa del Rey semi-final first leg at the Camp Nou as four goals from Luis Suarez and a hat-trick from Lionel Messi made the return match at the Mestalla next week an irrelevance.

The pressure on the England coach, who has failed to win any of his eight Primera Division matches since taking charge of the club, is mounting.

Asked outright at his post-match press conference if he would resign, Neville replied: "No."

Another reporter asked whether Neville thought it was "logical" that he could now be dismissed, and the Englishman's blunt response was: "Next question."

Neville's greatest concern was for the Valencia fans, who have jeered the team in recent games at the Mestalla.

"Tonight for some reason we went back a big step," he said.

"The Valencia fans did not deserve that and I feel most for them. It's their club and they are the ones that have been with this club all their lives and they're suffering very badly."

The former Manchester United defender insisted he had a "mechanism" for dealing with nights like this one and said he last experienced doubts 18 years ago during his playing career.

"My positivity is immovable in life but when you have moments like this you don't enjoy them at all," he said.

"I felt helpless, trying to change things in some way but knowing the tide of the game was against us.

"That scoreline is unacceptable. The reality of me is that I last had doubts as a player 18 years ago and from that moment onwards I developed a mechanism to deal with moments like this.

"I've just said to the players in the changing room now - 'forget (the defeat), everything in your mind now shifts to (Real) Betis.' Be absolutely clear, we have to deliver on Sunday."

Neville was asked what he would have made of that performance in his former role as a television pundit.

"I would have been critical of the performance," he said.

"That is a really poor performance from us. Forget the scoreline, when you give the ball away in areas like we did against a team like that you leave yourself open to be counter-attacked."

Valencia sporting director Jesus Garcia Pitarch said it was "not the day to talk about the future" during television interviews following the defeat.

"This day you can't explain. We must apologise to fans for one of the worst results in our history," he added.

Former Valencia and Spain goalkeeper Santiago Canizares was scathing in his assessment of the result on Twitter and said he was surprised that Neville had not resigned.

"I expected the coach's resignation, as well as some apologies. I may be ignorant, but I'm surprised he hasn't done it, I thought he was honest," he wrote on his verified @santicanizares account on Wednesday.

"If Garcia Pitarch trusts in Gary as he said on Monday, I'm disappointed. If it's not like that, why did he say that?

"If (Garcia Pitarch) lied to us, and tomorrow he proposes the sacking of the coach and it's not accepted, it's best if (Garcia Pitarch) leaves as well.

"Worse than the loss, is giving up in the fight. We are facing a test of fire. To demand decisions is responsible, to give up isn't."

5 things Gary Neville must do to save his job at Valencia.

Gary Neville's difficult start to life as Valencia manager took a severe turn for the worse on Wednesday night when his side were hammered 7-0 at Barcelona in the Copa del Rey.

Los Che had gone eight games without a win in the Primera Division since Neville took over in early December, but they hit a new low at the Camp Nou and it left the former England international looking over his shoulder, with fans beginning to question his position.

Herewe look at five things he needs to do to turn fortunes around at the Mestalla and save his job.

1. Improve concentration

Neville blamed the defeat on Valencia's nasty habit of conceding possession deep in their own half - unhelpful at any time, but disastrous when taking on three of the best attackers in the world in Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.

The errors left Los Che seriously exposed and undermanned in defence and it is an issue Neville must address before his team travel to Seville to face Real Betis on Sunday.

2. Start games better

In all of Neville's eight league games at the helm Valencia have fallen behind, leaving them with an uphill task. One of the positives under the former Manchester United defender has been the club's spirit - in four of those games they have battled back to earn a point with goals in the final 10 minutes of matches. But they are chasing the game too often, so they need to find a way to score the first goal in the game and go from there.

3. Get the best from the beast

One of the first things Neville did following his appointment in December was bring former Manchester City striker Alvaro Negredo - nicknamed 'the Beast' - into the starting XI. However, barring a Copa del Rey hat-trick against Granada, the 30-year-old has flattered to deceive and been guilty of a string of glaring misses. He has bagged twice in the league but has not been reliable enough in front of goal, evidenced by a shocking run of wasted chances in the 1-0 loss against Sporting Gijon last week.

4. Decide on a settled formation

As is the norm when a team has been struggling for consistency, there has been plenty of chopping and changing in Neville's tactics. In fact, he has already used five different formations in the eight league games, trying out 4-3-3, 5-3-2, 4-4-2, 4-1-4-1 and 4-2-3-1. He quickly needs to decide on his preferred method and stick to it.

5. Get all of his best players fit and firing

Much of Neville's shuffling of his pack has been due to injuries to key players and things could be looking up on that front. Goalkeeper Diego Alves is closing in on a return after a serious knee injury while Enzo Perez is also nearing a comeback after fitness issues. With Jose Gaya and Sofiane Feghouli also in the early stages of a return to the starting XI in recent weeks, Neville will be looking forward to working with some key players.