STEVEN FLETCHER insists he never lost faith in his goalscoring capabilities despite a run of almost six months without finding the back of the net.

The Sunderland striker claimed a hat-trick as Scotland brushed aside Gibraltar on Sunday night, ending a barren spell that stretched all the way back to the Black Cats’ 3-1 win at Crystal Palace in early November.

Fletcher had been forced to wait even longer for a goal on the international stage, with his only previous strike for Scotland coming in a 2009 win over Iceland.

He improved that record in style at the weekend, with two headers and a late curled strike enabling him to become the first Scottish player to score a hat-trick since Colin Stein achieved the feat in 1969.

His goals should provide him with a timely morale boost ahead of the relegation run-in with his club side, but despite finding himself left out of Sunderland’s starting line-up on a number of occasions since the turn of the year, the 28-year-old insists he always remained confident in his own abilities.

“I feel my game’s about more than goals,” said Fletcher. “But you know as a striker that people don’t judge you on how many times you link up play, but on how many you score.

“I was conscious of the fact it had been so long. That said, my confidence genuinely hasn’t been dented.

“You just enjoy these days when they come along, and they don’t come much better than scoring a hat-trick for your country. You could see from my celebrations how much the goals meant to me, especially the first. That seemed to take an age to go in.”

Regardless of Fletcher’s insistence that his confidence was never dented, Sunderland head coach Dick Advocaat will be hoping last weekend’s hat-trick provides his club’s £12m man with a timely morale boost ahead of Sunday’s critical Wear-Tyne derby with Newcastle.

Fletcher scored the opening goal when Sunderland claimed a 2-1 home win over the Magpies last season, and having fielded a three-man frontline at West Ham United in his opening fixture, Advocaat is expected to select the Scotsman alongside Jermain Defoe and Connor Wickham again at the weekend.

Scotland boss Gordon Strachan displayed similar faith in Fletcher during his lengthy barren run, and the striker was quick to praise the former Middlesbrough manager in the wake of Sunday’s win.

“It meant a lot that he stuck with me, but that’s the way he is,” he said. “The gaffer’s made a point of standing by the guys who’ve got us to this position, and saying that, whatever anyone else says, he knows we’re good players. I’m delighted to have repaid a bit of that faith.”