Scottish striker nears return to fitness.
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Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio has been handed a boost by the return to fitness of striker Steven Fletcher, the Daily Mail reports.
Fletcher has been on the sidelines for the past six months but could now be set to challenge new striker Jozy Altidore for a spot in the starting line up and could even be in contention for next week’s Capital One Cup encounter with MK Dons.
Di Canio but the Sunderland manager is delighted to have him available for selection at last.
“I’m very happy. The staff are very happy. He will finally join the group in the next few days and start training. Not full sessions but practice with the team when we have technical and tactical moments. He can speak with his team-mates again; sometimes we have seen him from 50 yards away,” Di Canio said.
“You can see his desire his enthusiasm but we have to be sensible, intelligent. It’s better to take another week after a few months out because to accelerate him too much now would be very very stupid.
“It’s very important he is right. The net is there and he can see the net and score goals now. That is very important, otherwise we don’t win many games.”