Fears for career as Scotland captain Darren Fletcher has to take ‘extended break’

Fletcher, 27, has ulcerative colitis and has accepted medical advice to take a complete break from the demands of training and playing as he seeks to save a career which has been spent at the sharpest end of professional football. United gave no indication of a potential timescale for Fletcher’s return, but it would be no surprise if the condition rules him out for the rest of the season.

Scotland manager Craig Levein last night saluted a player he describes as being among the most inspirational he has worked with, and stressed that Fletcher remains “a central part of our plans for the World Cup 2014 qualifiers”, with the games scheduled to begin in September next year.

However, medical experts admit that the condition can end a career in sport if it continues – although in most cases a full recovery is achieved.

The Scotland manager praised his skipper after the reason for his infrequent appearances for the Old Trafford side since March was revealed, saying that Fletcher’s health “is paramount”, and hailing his qualities as a man.

“I am absolutely devastated for Darren because I know how hard he has worked to get back playing regularly for his club and country,” said Levein. “He is one of the most inspirational players I have had the pleasure of working with and on behalf of his Scotland team-mates and my backroom staff I sincerely hope his time off, allied to the support of his family, will enable him to make a full recovery.

“Darren has shown tremendous dedication and fortitude, demonstrated by his ability to overcome this illness and perform at the highest level for Manchester United and Scotland.”

Levein revealed that he had spoken to both Fletcher and Sir Alex Ferguson, his manager at Manchester United, this week. “The most important thing at this stage is for the player to be given time to rest and recuperate,” he said.

United had previously described Fletcher’s illness as being virus-related. Yesterday the club admitted they have attributed his several periods of absence to a viral illness “in order to respect his right to medical confidentiality”.

Fletcher was absent from the first-team squad for Saturday’s win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. The midfielder was an unused substitute in the previous match against Basel in the Champions League, when defeat eliminated the Old Trafford side from the Champions League. It had seemed a strange move by Ferguson to leave Fletcher on the bench for such a critical game and instead pair veteran Ryan Giggs and teenager Phil Jones in the centre of midfield.

The club statement explained that, while Fletcher “was able to maintain remission of symptoms for a considerable period this has proved more difficult recently and Darren’s continued desire to play and his loyalty to both his club and country has probably compromised the chances of optimising his own health and fitness”.

Fletcher signed a new four-year deal with United in March,

keeping him at the club until 2015. Although clearly having lost a lot of weight, he described himself as being in better shape than ever prior to two vital Euro 2012 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Lithuania in September. Fletcher scored in the first game and missed a penalty in the second but impressed all with his stamina. Before the game against the Czechs, only his second 90-minute outing in six months, he described the effects of an illness which had left him both drained and bewildered.

“I was stuck in bed, unable to get around, for two weeks at one stage,” he explained. “I had constant reassurance from the doctor, who was great throughout it all, that it was just a bit of bad luck, to go down with a combination of things. So I never feared for my career, or anything like that.”

Fletcher has played 10 times for his club this season and made five appearances for Scotland. In October he flew from from Manchester to Zurich and then was driven to the team hotel in St Gallen on the eve of Scotland’s vital European Championship qualifying game against Liechtenstein after having recovered from what was described as a bout of tonsillitis. He played the full 90 minutes the following day in Vaduz and was substituted five minutes before the end of the 3-1 defeat against Spain four days later.

He has since made five starts for Manchester United, including goalscoring appearances against Manchester City and Benfica.

However, a flare-up in the condition has sidelined him once again and United have chosen to go public with the details “on behalf of Darren Fletcher”.

The club asked that his privacy was respected and the statement expressed the hope “that the removal of the additional stress associated with speculation regarding his health will also aid his recovery”.

The news is a significant blow to Ferguson, who last week learned that his club captain Nemanja Vidic will miss the rest of the season after rupturing knee cruciate ligaments in Basel. Rio Ferdinand, Vidic’s centre-half partner and a long-time team-mate of Fletcher’s, wrote on Twitter: “We are going to miss 2 big players in Fletcher + Vidic, I hope they both come fitter + stronger than ever”. As a hashtag he added one word: “believe”.

Another team-mate, United striker Michael Owen, said on Twitter: “Wishing Fletch all the best in his recovery. #topbloke.”