Sunderland Steven Fletcher close to returning to full fitness

Sunderland have been given a huge boost with the news their striker Steven Fletcher is close to regaining full fitness ahead of the pre-season training.

Fletcher joined the Black Cats for £12 million from Wolverhampton in 2012. After a bright start of his career at the Stadium of Light, which saw the Fletcher scoring 11 goals, the 26-year-old Scot suffered an ankle injury on an international duty which ended his season in March.

Known for their overreliance on Fletcher, Sunderland managed to only narrowly avoid relegation, not least of all thanks to new coach Paolo Di Canio, who instilled a new lease of life into his unmotivated players.

Di Canio is looking forward to Fletcher’s recovery and believes he will be playing crucial role in his tactical schemes next season. The Italian said: “Steven was a big miss for us. It was frustrating not to be able to call on him when I took over and it will boost us to have him back.”