Manchester United's Darren Fletcher out for season after bowel surgery

Darren Fletcher is a deeply unfortunate man. After struggling with bowel problems for most of the past few seasons before finally making what looked like a bona fide comeback this year, the former Manchester United mainstay's now been ruled out for the rest of the current campaign. And yep, it's the bowel thing again.

The club has announced that the midfielder, who turns 29 in February, will undergo surgery in an attempt to correct the condition:

Darren Fletcher will be unavailable for the remainder of this season having undergone surgery to resolve his Ulcerative Colitis condition.

We wish to stress this was a planned procedure undertaken at the optimal time having achieved a period of sustained good general health, as illustrated by the fact that Darren has trained with the team regularly this season and been available for selection right up to the operation.

-Source: Manchester United official site.

The good news is that the surgery was to resolve his ulcerative colitis rather than to relieve it, which will hopefully mean that once he's finished recuperating he'll be able to resume his career without further setbacks. That won't give him his lost seasons back, of course, but it's a start. Good luck to Fletcher as he recovers.