The Sheffield Wednesday striker helped his country to back-to-back Nations League wins.
Steven Fletcher’s performance for Scotland in midweek should serve as a message to the Sheffield Wednesday manager, Jos Luhukay.
Fletcher has established himself as Wednesday’s first-choice centre forward in recent weeks, although his hard work has often gone unrewarded.
But in Tuesday’s 3-2 win over Israel – and indeed the previous Saturday’s 4-0 success against Albania – Fletcher, for the first time in a while, saw his abilities put to good use.
The difference? Arguably, the trio of attacking midfielders lurking behind him, each ready to run either to or beyond him in assistance – the latter, of course, brilliantly demonstrated by James Forrest’s second goal, after Ryan Christie had latched onto the Sheffield Wednesday striker’s flick-on close to the halfway line.
It was the sort of supporting cast – which also comprised Ryan Fraser – that Fletcher could have only dreamt of having around him at Hillsborough of late, where colleagues have been scarcely found in the 31-year-old’s half of the pitch, nevermind close by.
But with Marco Matias and Fernando Forestieri potentially back fit for Saturday’s visit of Derby County – and Adam Reach thrown in too – Luhukay may at long lost have the players available to replicate the (albeit recently) successful Scottish model.
Accommodating that could, however, require a return to four at the back, something the Owls have yet to master under Luhukay – although deploying Michael Hector as one of two holding midfielders, alongside Barry Bannan, would be one way of keeping things flexible in the event of emergency (see below).
And with a large section of the Sheffield Wednesday fanbase having already surpassed their tolerance level where Luhukay is concerned, now would be as good a time as any to take that risk.
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