Lesser light Fletcher's chance to shine

Wayne Rooney has been outstanding, Cristiano Ronaldo fitful and other big names at Manchester United have gone missing, through injury, suspension or a badly timed dip in form. With the club's hold on the European Cup slipping, it may require some of the lesser lights to shine in Wednesday's second leg of the quarter-final away to Porto, just as Federico Macheda did when given his chance against Aston Villa last weekend.

Step forward Darren Fletcher, the underrated Scot whose industry in midfield is becoming all the more important as Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs find the years catching up, while Anderson and Nani are in a slump. Most of the time it has suited him to stay in the shadows, so it comes as a surprise to realise that he has already passed 200 first-team games and that despite speaking of himself in terms of "us younger ones", a 25th birthday has been and gone. But then he did start young, winning the FA Cup at 20 and captaining his country at the same age, the youngest Scot to do so for almost 120 years.

Now is the time to produce the maturity and responsibility on the pitch with which he spoke about United's recent highs and lows. Sounding like an old hand, he said calmly: "You can't have an entire season where things go smoothly all the time. There are spells when you have a dip in form. At the end of the season, you look back and you usually find you win what you deserve to win. We know it's not plain sailing all the time. We need to get back to the old United of not conceding goals. Our experience will help us get back on the right track."

That track, of course, needs to be located on Wednesday against a side who surprised many at Old Trafford in securing a deserved 2-2 draw. Some felt Sir Alex Ferguson had picked the wrong team, but Fletcher explained the rationale behind it: "We knew they were going to play 4-3-3 from the start. From the beginning, we had five in midfield to counter that. But the gameplan went out the window when they scored an early goal. We had to change and we did, but we never found a rhythm. We thought we had it at 2-1 but they scored that late goal. Now we have to go and win the match. The challenge has been set. If we'd won 2-1, we might wonder if we'd sit back or go for it. We know now we have to win the match, as simple as that."

And Porto's approach? "Do they sit and try and hold out for a 0-0 or 1-1 to go through, or do they play like they did at Old Trafford? It will be an interesting one. But we are not going to go there cavalier, because they are a dangerous side on the counter- attack. The front three players were excellent, one of the best sides to have come to Old Trafford this season."

One excuse was that United were playing a second game in three days, but Fletcher insists they should not hide behind that. "You have to put tiredness aside. We are playing for Manchester United, trying to defend the Champions' League and Premier League. Tiredness shouldn't play a part. The adrenalin, the fans, they can lift you through these matches."