Sir Alex awake and talking

Sir Alex Ferguson is said to be awake and talking after suffering a life-threatening brain haemorrhage.

Friends of the legendary Manchester United boss, 76, have claimed he is “sitting up talking and asking about his results” – although there was no confirmation from the club and his family.

The ex-Aberdeen and Scotland manager has been in intensive care after collapsing at his Cheshire home on Saturday.

He underwent emergency brain surgery and was placed in an induced coma following the shock brain haemorrhage.

Sir Alex, who won a record 13 Premier League titles with Manchester United, was said last night to be “doing well” in Salford Royal Hospital.

A source said: “The prognosis is good and his closest friends in football are being kept abreast of any developments.”

United stars have vowed to win the FA Cup for Sir Alex— and are praying he can watch them lift the trophy on TV.

The aces have pledged to beat Chelsea on May 19 as a tribute to the Old Trafford legend.

Midfielder Juan Mata, 30, said the side would work hard to honour the Scotsman’s “winning mentality” in the season’s final three games — “especially in the FA Cup Final”.

Doctors have said that the coming weeks will be vital for the football’s icon’s recovery.

Neurosurgeon Peter Hamlyn wrote in The Telegraph: “The most common form (of haemorrhage) for a man of his age with a history of cardiovascular issues…is intracerebral, in which there is bleeding within the brain tissue, causing irreparable damage to those cells.

“In Sir Alex’s case, his surgeons have decided to operate almost certainly because they felt the size of the blood clot was causing damage to the remaining brain tissue.

“This is often life-saving surgery and aims to reduce any long-term disability Sir Alex might suffer with this form of stroke.

“If they survive without signs of improvement after several months, then it is unlikely that an individual will return to their former health.

“However, in the immediate aftermath there is everything to fight for and the potential for a full recovery, albeit sometimes after a long period of rehabilitation.”

He said patients like Sir Alex are also at greater risk of bleeds in the days, weeks and months following their stroke.

While most strokes are caused by blood clots cutting off the blood flow to the brain, a brain bleed is a rarer form that causes similar damage.