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ALLAN McGREGOR was wired up to machines when Steve Bruce walked into the Intensive Care Unit of Wellington Hospital in London just over six weeks ago.

As doctors fought to save the Scotland star from losing a kidney, the Hull City boss could scarcely believe the state of his No.1 as the tubes came out of him.

If that shocked him, so did the response from McGregor when he walked into the room and the ex-Rangers star boldly winced through the pain to say he would be ready for the FA Cup Final.

Just 24 hours earlier, he had been diagnosed with injuries akin to a car crash when he broke three ribs and damaged a kidney in a sickening collision with West Ham’s Mohamed Diame.

At the time, Bruce didn’t laugh at the statement. The situation was too serious.

But when he finished his visiting time with McGregor, he walked out of the Wellington shaking his head thinking his keeper was mad.

Incredibly, the Scotland ace has been proved true to his word.

(Image: Getty Images)

He made a shock return last weekend against Everton in the final Premier League match of the season, and is now on course for Wembley and the FA Cup showpiece against Arsenal.

Bruce last night confessed to Record Sport that he will pick the ex-Ibrox hero for Saturday’s Final and can barely believe he’ll be in a position to do so.

He said: “I went to the hospital the day after the incident and I saw him in the ICU.

“He was in a bad way and the doctors came in and said that, hopefully, the next 24 hours will be okay because they are crucial. There was a spell when we thought Allan could lose a kidney.

“I think I’ve got this medically correct, but had the tear been a bit more, there would not have been any way to stop the bleeding. In that situation, you can’t repair it, so you have to remove it.

“But then, McGregor being McGregor, he told me that everything was going to be alright in six weeks.

“I said: ‘That’s good’. He said: ‘Yes, because the FA Cup Final is going to be seven weeks away’.

“To be honest, I just walked out of the hospital after that and thought: ‘You are mad’.

“But then again, he is mad. Mad in a good way. Tough. Hard as nails.

“In his mind from that day in the hospital bed, he was convinced he was going to try and make it and Allan is a bit of a throwback to the old ones.

“He’s a bit like David Meyler in the sense you need a shovel to break their backs.

“Allan has given himself every chance for Wembley when I did not think that day in the hospital there was any chance.”

Bruce’s determination to go with McGregor is two-fold. Firstly, he rates him as one of the best in the business.

Bruce wanted the goalkeeper when he knew he was leaving Rangers but was unable to get a deal done when he committed to moving to Turkey.

He said: “I’ve always rated Allan and I actually tried to sign him the year before when he left Rangers and went to Besiktas.

“I kept in touch with him because I had a bit of an idea that he would not settle in Turkey.

“I had a sneaky suspicion that he might become available and, for the money we paid for him, he has become a really top-class goalkeeper. He’s proved to everyone since he has been here how good he is.”

Secondly, he has the type of big-match experience which will be invaluable to the City squad as they head into the lions’ den against Arsene Wenger’s team.

Bruce has never managed in an FA Cup Final but at least he has played in them. That’s in contrast to the majority of his squad, who have no experience of the massive occasion.

Bruce believes the semi-final win over Sheffield United has helped to give them a taste of the Wembley atmosphere.

But no-one in the group has the know-how of 32-year-old McGregor, who is a veteran of major cup finals from his days at Rangers with Bruce admitting he’ll be absolutely vital.

He said: “Allan has experience which none of the others have. This is going to be a really big day for the players and I have told them to make sure they enjoy it.

“I’ve told them it’s a bit like your wedding day. One minute it’s started and the next it’s over.

“We’re the underdogs against the mighty Arsenal. They have fantastic players, a fantastic manager and fantastic supporters. They also have a touch of class.

“So we’ll clamour for every bit of experience that we can get. I feel for Steve Harper because he’s played a lot but he knows that when McGregor is fit I have to pick my No.1 for the big occasion.”