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DARREN FLETCHER was back at Hampden yesterday. He looked fit and healthy but he isn’t fit and healthy enough yet.

Not to do what he loves to do most. Not to pull on the boots again and to play football for Manchester United and his beloved Scotland.

But he’s getting there. He swears he is and his determination to beat the chronic bowel disease that has afflicted him since November 2011 is unwavering.

Fletcher has six-year-old twin boys, you see. And he is driven by the desire to have his sons sitting in the Hampden stand watching their dad wear the blue of his country.

He’s 29 now but the midfielder does not believe time is running out.

However, he is using those who think it is, the doubters, as another motivation for getting back to the level that saw him nail down a place in one of the world’s biggest club teams and captain his country.

And when he does – there is no ‘if’ in Fletcher’s vocabulary – he is going to spend a long time thanking those who have helped pull him through from the moment he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.

His family and close friends are a given. But next in line will be fellow Scot Sir Alex Ferguson, who has proved himself to be more than just a manager to him.

Fletcher recalled yesterday how he was lifted by Fergie’s words of encouragement as he made his retiral speech on the Old Trafford pitch at the end of his final home game in charge of United in May.

Ferguson has managed all the greats who played there over the last 27 years but mentioned only Paul Scholes and Fletcher by name. And Fletcher said: “I wasn’t there that day. I was watching it with my dad on TV. I was just blown away.

“For him, at that moment, to take the time to think and to speak of me was fantastic and it just shows the measure of the man.

“It speaks volumes of him to think of other people when the whole occasion was about him.

“It was just one of those moments that shocks you because you just do not expect it. It was emotional.

“More than anything it gave me a great determination to come back.

“Him speaking like that – after everything he has done for you – you want to get back as a thank you almost to him and to the club for the way they have been with me.

“I had a phone call from him a few weeks back. These moments are inspirational – there is no other way to describe it.

“When he speaks to you, he is not speaking as someone who is my manager any longer. He is speaking as someone who cares, and who believes in me as well. It was a pep talk – he just can’t help himself!

“When he says things like that it gives me great confidence and belief in getting back – and not only getting back but getting back to a level I believe I am capable of being at.”

His children are his other motivation to make a full recovery.

He is back running but isn’t yet able to have any physical contact on a football pitch after having an operation in January.

Fletcher yearns for the day that situation changes.

He said: “My kids want to see their dad playing for Scotland and Manchester United again.

“They are upset that my FIFA rating has dropped. They keep saying to me, ‘Why are you only 79 Dad?’ and I keep telling them I used to have a good rating but I’ve not played for a while.

“I used to be an 82 or an 83. So I need to get back playing!

“They are six now and they’re really starting to understand and enjoy football so that’s another big thing for me. I want them to be coming to places like Hampden to watch their dad play.”

Fletcher would have loved his boys Tyler and Jack to have seen him run out at Wembley next Wednesday against England.

It won’t happen but he hopes the fixture can be revived and that before he finally calls time on his career, he will have played against the Auld Enemy.

Fletcher said: “It is a massive one. That game was my target. I was desperate to get fit for it.

“I am so envious of the lads playing. What a chance they have to put their name in the fans’ hearts forever by winning at Wembley. Everyone would remember that.

“That is the opportunity they have and I really believe they can do it.

“Hopefully this can be seen as a trial run and if everything runs smoothly and it is a great occasion then it would be fantastic to have it every couple of years.

“I hope that is the case because I am desperate to play in a Scotland v England game.”

Fletcher can’t put a timescale on his recovery but he reiterated that he is on the way back.

He said: “I’m already out running but I am in the hands of the surgeon just now and waiting for the all-clear to start physical work.

“Hopefully, that will come over the next few weeks. I have to be positive about the situation.

“I fully believe I will be back to the level I was at before. I know there will be doubters out there.

“But once I come through this I will be looking to prove people wrong.”