The former Manchester United midfielder has worked as a pundit for broadcaster TNT Sports since retiring from the game in 2013 but is now prioritising the needs of his son Aiden, 20, whom he co-parents with his ex-wife Claire Froggatt.

Scholes told the Stick to Football podcast: "Everything I'm going to do now just works around him.

"I do studio work, but everything is built around his day.

"Last season on Thursday nights I'd do the Europa League for Manchester United. That's the night I'd usually have him, so he was getting all agitated, biting and scratching. He knows the pattern's not there straight away."

Scholes kept his son's autism diagnosis private when he was playing and was dropped by former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson as he attempted to handle the matter.

The ex-England international said: "I never got a break from it, even when playing - it was very hard in those days.

"I don't think they diagnosed it until he was two-and-a-half years old. But you knew early something was wrong, but then you get the diagnosis, and I'd never heard of it.

"I remember the first time after it, we were playing Derby away and I just didn't want to be there.

"I remember the manager dropped me the week after, and I hadn't told anyone. I ended up telling them a few weeks later, as it was quite hard.

"Even now, I don't want sympathy or anything. I just thought, even if I did speak to someone about it, it's not going to help Aiden.

"The big concern now is, because you're getting a bit older, what happens when you're not here? That's the thing that's now on my mind all the time."