Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher’s illness is a sporting shame of great proportions.

The news regarding Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher and his medical problems is saddening.

The Scotland captain has missed a large amount of football recently with the excuse of a mystery ‘viral illness’.

Manchester United have now announced the true nature of Fletcher’s condition and revealed he will be taking an extended break from football.

The illness he is suffering from is known as ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease.

It is wretched luck for any player to miss playing time through injury, but there seems an even greater injustice when it is something completely unrelated to football, as Fletcher’s problem is.

It does remind us that Premier League stars, who we elevate onto such unrealistic moral and emotional pedestals, are subject to the same ills and ailments as us normal folk.

It is an obvious statement to make but is it not strange to think of Wayne Rooney not being able to play because he has a cold? Or Robin van Persie missing a game because he has a migraine?

Fletcher deserves greater respect and sympathy from us all by the route he had to take to becoming a key squad member at Old Trafford.

The 27-year-old was not a supremely gifted footballer, to whom things came effortlessly; he was technically sound and relied on hard work to further himself.

For many years Fletcher was derided as a sub-par member of Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad, some even ludicrously suggested he was there because he was Scottish.

Never a fashionable member of the successful Manchester United sides over the past few years, Fletcher has come to be a player that Ferguson relies on in big games.

Shortly before his illness began to affect his number of appearances, the Scot had become a regular in the side and his tireless displays in the centre of midfield had led to him becoming one of the most important members of the team.

It seems doubly cruel that a player who could never be accused of being a prima dona or someone who has not fulfilled their potential, is struck down at a time when he appeared to really be coming into the prime of his career.

For the many detractors who have criticised Fletcher in the past, his honours record will be painful reading:

Four Premier League titles, one FA Cup, two League Cups, one Champions League and one World Club Cup.

If the worst were to happen and Fletcher is unable to return, his record would put to shame most other players who have played the game.

While Fletcher’s absence will trouble United greatly due to their current injury problem, Fletcher’s drive and determination will be greatly missed if the Old Trafford side are still challenging for the league come May.

One thing is for sure though, there is no chance that Fletcher will not be doing all he can to return to the full fitness as quickly as possible.

Sir Alex : We missed Fletch

Darren Fletcher was perhaps the perfect player to disrupt Barcelona's possession football, and Sir Alex Ferguson's fears before the game that the suspended midfielder would be a great loss sadly proved prophetic.

The Reds boss recognises that Barcelona also had players missing through suspension, but from a United point of view Fletcher would have been key in disrupting the flow of passes from Andres Iniesta and Xavi to the front three of Eto'o, Henry and Messi.

"I thought before the game it may have been a problem," said Sir Alex.

"I knew it might count against us because he is a big-game player and he was a big loss. It's difficult to say how big, and they had players missing too, but it showed for us tonight."

Fletcher's ability to cover every blade of grass in the middle of the park would have been an asset as United tried to regain possession - but keeping the ball was also a problem.

"The simple reason we lost was possession," Sir Alex added. "You have to wait minutes to get it back off Barcelona but when we did get it, we didn't do anything with it.

"That was the disappointment, our use of the ball when we had it.

"We recognised beforehand their strength was their central midfielders. It wasn't really Messi who was the problem. It was Iniesta and Xavi. They can keep the ball all night long.

"You have to give credit to a very good Barcelona team. If they get in front of you they are very difficult to beat."

Fletch won't lose focus

“I can’t let it affect me. We’ve still got a championship to win, and that is where all my focus and concentration is. Everything else is out of my hands just now. I can’t let that affect my performances, or affect anything."

- Darren Fletcher

Darren Fletcher has handled the disappointment of potentially missing out on a place in the Champions League final with consummate dignity and professionalism.

The 25-year-old Scot’s harsh red card in the 3-1 semi-final victory over Arsenal on Tuesday means that he’ll miss the final, unless a UEFA panel scheduled to meet on Monday decides to rescind the sending off.

Sir Alex admitted last week that he isn’t entirely hopeful, and Fletcher isn’t getting his hopes up. And after another commanding display in the heart of United’s midfield in the 2-0 win over City, Fletch says his mind is solely on helping the Reds win the title.

“I’ve just focused on this game,” he said. “I can’t let it affect me. We’ve still got a championship to win, and that is where all my focus and concentration is. Everything else is out of my hands just now. I can’t let that affect my performances, or affect anything.

“I’m always hoping [that the decision will be overturned], but we’ll have to wait and see. I don’t want to get my hopes up too much because I don’t want to be disappointed.

"We just have to wait and see what happens. Right now I’m focused on helping United win the league.” It's an admirable attitude, and the midfielder has emerged with great credit and appreciation from United's faithful - his name ringing out around Old Trafford all afternoon.

His performance against City has helped put United in a strong position in the title race. Four points from three remaining games would hand the Reds a third consecutive title, 11th Premier League and 18th championship success in total. But Fletcher says the United players want the title wrapped up as soon as possible, preferably at OT.

“We’re in a great position,” he admits. “But we want to win the league as soon as possible. We want to win it against Arsenal, so we need to get three points in the bag against Wigan. That will be a difficult match.”

UEFA to rule on Fletch

UEFA's Control and Disciplinary body will meet on Monday to discuss Darren Fletcher's Champions League semi-final red card against Arsenal.

United have appealed to European football's governing body to overturn the dismissal - which rules Fletcher out of the final against Barcelona - because television replays show that the midfielder actually played the ball, rather than Gunners captain Cesc Fabregas in conceding a late penalty.

Earlier on Friday, Sir Alex Ferguson had confirmed the Reds' compassionate letter to UEFA, although he admitted that he held out little hope of the decision being overturned.

"I’m not optimistic at all, but we have to do it for Darren," he told his pre-Manchester City press conference. "It’s in fairness to him and sometimes, when everything’s addressed, you never know. But I don’t think it’ll be overturned.

"I honestly believe the referee made the right decision at the time because from his angle and from where I was, I thought it was a penalty. You see the replays and it’s obvious that Darren has managed to get his leg round and flick the ball away from Fabregas, which was incredible."

Sir Alex feels Fletcher was perhaps the victim of his own diligence at the Emirates Stadium, but is proud of the way the 25-year-old handled the heartbreak of missing a second successive Champions League final.

"Darren’s so honest that where an old stager might just have said (to Fabregas): ‘Go and score,’ he still was determined enough to try and do his job," said the manager. "He’s not an over-emotional boy and he accepts it. It’s disappointing for him obviously, but he takes great credit for the way he’s handled it all."

Fletch: Nothing is guaranteed

Darren Fletcher admits United's win over Portsmouth could prove vital after the Reds moved three points clear of Liverpool in the Barclays Premier League title race.

Although the Reds also have a game in hand on both Liverpool and Chelsea, the Scottish midfielder is adamant that the reigning champions must retain a steely focus to get the job done.

"It was a massive result after Liverpool only getting a point against Arsenal," Fletcher told MUTV. "It was important that we came out and won. We’re top of the league, three points ahead and we have a game in hand.

"We’re not counting that game in hand because the points aren’t in the bag yet and there are going to be plenty of twists and turns in this season. All we can do is concentrate on ourselves and as long as we keep winning matches then we should win the league."

Tottenham are next up at Old Trafford before attentions switch to the Champions League visit of Arsenal, but Fletch says the players' thoughts haven't turned to the Gunners' mouth-watering visit just yet.

"We’ve got three massive home games," he said. "We got Portsmouth out of the way, now we look to Tottenham. We can only look to our next game and try and get three points in that. That’s always the case just now: concentrate on your next match and don’t get too far ahead of yourself."