Alex's love for Best is praised by her mother

George Best's exasperated mother-in-law has admitted she was astonished her daughter had stuck by him, it was reported today.

Cheryl Pursey said Alex, 31, remained loyal to the wayward 57-year-old soccer legend "because she loves him so desperately".

As the couple prepared to celebrate their eighth wedding anniversary next week, Mrs. Pursey added: "Everyone's surprised they've stayed together so long. Friends and family didn't think it would last."

As reported in yesterday's Evening Standard, Best has been ordered to undergo an urgent examination to check whether he has damaged his new liver.

He telephoned his liver specialist saying he regretted his latest drinking binge, which lasted five days. Fearing for his health, his doctor Professor Roger Williams, advised him to undergo an examination at the Cromwell Hospital this week to see whether it has resulted in any serious damage.

Best, who underwent a lifesaving liver transplant last year, was drinking last week. He finally returned home to a distressed Alex on Monday.

Asked if she thought her daughter was wasting her life with an older husband plagued by drink problems, Mrs Pursey said: "Some people might think that. But Alex doesn't feel she is wasting her life, because she loves George so desperately. It is as simple as that. I admire the way she has coped.

"We all call her nurse Alex because she is always dishing out pills to him. She looks after him so well."

Despite her annoyance at his latest lapse, Best's mother-inlaw insisted she was "thrilled" the couple were still together. And she said today: "I'm dying for some grandchildren. I'm keeping my fingers crossed."

She added: "They've had their fair share of problems, but Alex is a very strong character and that has helped her put up with him.

" She wouldn ' t do anything she didn't want to. She's devoted to George and that's why she's tolerated him. But he is a lovely man, too."