Michael Carrick has hailed Manchester United team-mate Darren Fletcher as one of the best midfielders in the Barclays Premier League. It does not seem that long ago that Fletcher was being vilified by his own supporters, who were demanding his Old Trafford departure.
Yet over the past 12 months, the Scotland skipper's star has risen rapidly. His absence from the Champions League final in Rome was cited as one of the major reasons why Sir Alex Ferguson's side were so badly overpowered by Barcelona and it is no real surprise to learn Fletcher has missed seven of United's last nine defeats in all competitions.
Now it seems the 26-year-old has also added goalscoring to his repertoire. Although still not prolific by any means, Fletcher scored twice in the thrilling win over Manchester City in September and put United on the road to a comfortable 3-0 win over Everton on Saturday with a stunning volley which curled past Tim Howard from 20 yards.
"Darren is one of the best midfielders around at the moment," said Carrick. "His performances are at the highest level and it is great to play alongside him. He really is on top of his game."
Fletcher is not the type to seek attention and his reaction to another eye-catching contribution was typically matter of fact. "The main thing with a strike like that is to get your foot over the ball and fortunately it went in the back of the net," he said.
"It was one of my best strikes." Fletcher is going to be a pivotal figure over the next few months as United try to hunt down Chelsea, who are five points clear at the top of the table.
As United's next truly arduous fixture is at Arsenal on January 31, they do at least have the opportunity to go on one of the lengthy unbeaten runs which have been the hallmark of so many title successes down the years.
However, they will need goals from every department as the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo has turned up the heat on everyone. "The goals Ronaldo scored were extraordinary for a wide man," Carrick added. "It's obvious that we cannot rely on the strikers every week.
"We have all chipped in and we need to do it more often. As long as someone is scoring it is not an issue. It is winning games that matter."
Carrick counts himself among that number, so he was particularly pleased with the neat side-footed effort which effectively sealed victory before Antonio Valencia grabbed a late third.
As the direct replacement for Ronaldo, Valencia has been cajoled into increasing what was a minimal goals output at Wigan. He only scored seven for the Latics last season and, including the deflected effort against CSKA Moscow, the Ecuador international now has four for United.
He is also starting to impose himself on games, with his forceful running unhinging a disappointing Everton outfit who seemed intent on containment.
