Manchester united boss Sir Alex Ferguson has expressed his delight following the return of Darren Fletcher but insists he will not rush the Scot on his road to recovery.
The 28-year-old has been out of action since November 2011,due to a chronic inflammatory bowel condition, but returned to the field during Tuesday’s friendly match against Aberdeen.
The illness had at one point threatened the player’s career and although it is still unclear whether or not he’ll ever return to his previous heights, Ferguson was encouraged by the player’s appearance at Pittodrie.
The Scotland captain has been back in training for a number of weeks now and after spending time with his national squad, persuaded the manager to include him in the team for the match.
However, he managed to come through the final 30 minutes of the clash unscathed but was unable to help prevent his side from falling to a2-1 defeat to the Dons.
Despite the result, Ferguson was pleased to give the talismanic Fletcher some playing time but insists he won’t be rushing the midfielder back following such a difficult year and he could well be watching United’s early results and scores from the stands.
“It’s been quiet progress for the boy,” Ferguson was quoted as saying in the latest sport news reports. “He joined in training a couple of weeks ago and it’s one of those situations where you say: ‘Let’s see how he does because he has had a really difficult time in the last year’.
“Therefore, I wasn’t really placing too much hope in it but let’s see how he does.
“He’s got to the stage now where he feels he needs a game. I let him join Scotland this week but he wanted a game so I said: ‘Come to Aberdeen and join up afterwards,” he added.
