Illness-hit Scotland captain Darren Fletcher to train with squad

Scotland captain Darren Fletcher will meet up and train with the international squad next week, manager Craig Levein has revealed.

The 28-year-old Manchester United midfielder's career has been in the balance due to a chronic bowel illness which restricted him to just ten appearances last season.

Club boss Sir Alex Ferguson revealed last month that Fletcher was yet to return to training but Levein, who named his squad for the upcoming friendly with Australia on Monday, confirmed Fletcher is now on his way back to playing competitive football for the first time since November.

When asked if Fletcher could have a role in the national set-up if he had to retire from playing Levein revealed his skipper is on the long road to recovery.

He said: "Darren will be with us at the weekend, he is back in training and he played 45 minutes in a practice match last week.

"He is not in the squad because he has not played for Manchester United but he will come back and do a bit of training with us."

Fletcher made his last appearance against Benfica at Old Trafford in November.

He turned out just twice in the final weeks of the previous campaign, when the illness first took hold, and last featured for Scotland in a 3-1 defeat to Spain in October 2011.

Related articles

People who read this story also read