IT WAS the day after Allan McGregor suffered a torn kidney and three broken ribs that Hull City boss Steve Bruce visited his goalkeeper in the high dependency unit of a London hospital.
"Allan said to me straight away that the doctors had told him he could recover in six weeks. And then he reminded me the FA Cup final was in seven weeks."
Bruce left the ward smiling, content to know his goalkeeper's sense of humour had not been damaged by a gruesome injury in the 2-1 loss at West Ham United. Little did he know McGregor was being deadly serious.
Just 34 days after being discharged from a hospital where there had once been fears he would lose his damaged kidney, McGregor was back on duty in Hull City's goal yesterday.
Even allowing for the fortitude of a player his manager calls "hard as nails", it has been a quite remarkable recovery.
McGregor's refusal to accept his season being over has been given full reward and now he has an FA Cup final to plan for this weekend.
Bruce needed to be convinced, just as he has since the unlikely comeback first began, but yesterday's 2-0 defeat to Everton may well have been enough.
There was nothing remarkable in McGregor's performance aside from an alert low save to keep out Romelu Lukaku. A critical eye might even suggest he could have done more for James McCarthy's opener.
However, just to see the Scotland international emerge through 90 minutes without cause for concern was arguably the most positive conclusion to be drawn from a limp demise.
McGregor's return has snatched the number one jersey out of Steve Harper's hands a week from Wembley. It is a desperately harsh outcome for the veteran keeper, who has barely put a foot wrong serving as an understudy this season, but Bruce's preference has always been for the man who cost him £1.8m last summer.
McGregor's 28 Premier League appearances this season ensure he deserves this chance. A full season, without the punctuation of injuries and suspensions, could have seen him challenging for honours in the club's Player of the Season. Individual errors can be counted on one hand.
That has earned Bruce's faith for a fixture that will almost certainly see him among the busiest players on the Wembley turf. McGregor's reactions and agility trump the undoubted wisdom and calmness of Harper.
City supporters will travel to Wembley this weekend hoping for something close to a footballing miracle in the FA Cup final. McGregor, however, has already achieved his.
