Gordon Strachan has said that Steven Fletcher is close to being back to his best after a spell out through injury.

The Sunderland striker missed time with an Achilles injury last season, but has been featuring regularly for the club at the start of this season.

The Scotland manager, who has included the forward in his latest squad, told the Daily Record: "Steven's been out with a bad injury. It takes a bit of time to get over these things.

"I've always said that about players who've had cruciate ligament injuries. I had the same with Craig Bellamy when he came to Coventry from Norwich. He didn't fully recover while at Coventry but got back playing, went to Newcastle and was on fire. These injuries take a wee while.

"Stephen has the intelligence, all he needs to do is add the goals that Robbie [Keane] put together and then you have a terrific player. A goal would be great but if he keeps making assists that means we are scoring."

Despite his injury problems, Fletcher has scored four goals in eight appearances for the Black Cats this campaign.