Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher has opened up about how former manager Sir Alex Ferguson supported him during his battle with ulcerative colitis.

The Scot revealed that his compatriot did everything in his power to help him overcome the debilitating bowel condition and kept in regular contact after his retirement.

"I owe him everything in my career but he rose to a different level for me in the way he supported me through this," Fletcher told the Daily Mail.

"Even after he retired he would still be on the phone, to see how my recovery was going. Sometimes he would call just to speak to my wife. He knew she was probably suffering more than me.

"It was killing her seeing me, knowing I wasn't the same person because I was ill. He'd be on the phone to her for half an hour. We are very grateful to him for that."

Fletcher spent six years battling the chronic illness but is now in remission following a series of operations, undergoing surgery for the final time in August 2013.