Scotland coach Craig Levein says Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher remains positive about a full recovery from his bowel complaint.

Fletcher's career for both club and country is still up in the air. The Manchester United midfielder hoped to travel to America - even to watch - but will stay at home to continue his recovery from ulcerative colitis.

Levein added: "I spoke to him a couple of days ago. He hoped he would be well enough to travel but he was a little bit uncertain about it. So I said that if he was unsure, the best thing for him was to stay.

"The reason behind it was that I see him as a really important part of the group.

"He has a great influence on other people and it's always great if he's there.

"But what I didn't want to do was to take him out of his rehabilitation and across the other side of the world, whatever the complications might have been with that.

"But I desperately want him back. You can never say anything in football with a degree of certainty but I believe if he had been fit for Manchester United this year, he might have made the difference between them not winning and winning the title.

"That's how highly I regard him.

"I don't get involved in any of the details of his rehab but he's always a very positive boy. It's my intention to have him back to try and qualify for Brazil. I don't really like speaking about his illness, that's not for me to talk about.

"It's not my position to speak publicly about it. I don't feel comfortable about that, because I don't know with any degree of certainty exactly what the situation is.

"I can tell you that I'd love to have him in the group, even if he's not fit to play. I want him back and the lads do as well."