STEVEN FLETCHER insists that his goalscoring drought has not affected him and that he remains firmly focused on helping Sunderland climb away from relegation trouble.

The Black Cats are deep in trouble after failing to win any of their last eight matches and were branded the worst team in the Premier League earlier this week by Harry Redknapp.

Finding the net has been Sunderland’s biggest problem this season and only profligate Aston Villa boast a worse total than the 23 goals scored this season.

Fletcher, a £12m striker, only has four of them and those arrived against Stoke in September and Crystal Palace in November. That remains the last time he found the net and he knows such a return is not good enough.

However, after being handed a starting role by Dick Advocaat in his first match in charge at West Ham last Saturday, Fletcher is confident the goals will flow across the Sunderland team to keep top-flight football on Wearside for a further year.

Fletcher, who started for Scotland against Northern Ireland on Wednesday night, said: “I’m looking to get back on the scoresheet as soon as possible. It’s been a while. For me the Northern Ireland game was just about getting some minutes under my belt. I’ve not played too much this year so it feels good to get back out there.

“A few of the boys, like myself, haven’t played too much football so it was good to get a few minutes.

“It doesn’t prey on my mind. If I wasn’t getting chances, I’d be complaining but I’m getting them so I just need to start taking them. So I need to get a goal just now never mind a hat-trick.”

Fletcher is expected to line up for Scotland against Gibraltar in this weekend’s Euro 16 Group D qualifier and scoring in that fixture could warm him up nicely for the visit of Newcastle United a week later.

He said: “Listen, if we get opportunities on Sunday hopefully we can take them. If that means one of us getting a few goals then great. First and foremost we just want to get the goals that give us a win and push us up the table.”

Fletcher has actually not scored for his country since finding the net against Iceland in 2009. He fancies his chances of that ending when he faces Gibraltar, although he is also using the game to gain extra match fitness after a frustrating season at club level.

The 27-year-old thought he had scored against Northern Ireland only for goalkeeper Michael McGovern to deny him on a couple of occasions. Gordon Strachan’s side did win, though, courtesy of Christophe Berra’s 85th minute winner.

Fletcher said: “If we’d got an earlier goal, it would have been a bit more comfortable but at least we got one. We could have been ahead earlier. We’d a few chances in the first half – I had a few myself.

“In fairness, he pulled off a few good saves although it was frustrating we never got the goal before we did. But the win keeps us going for the weekend. It was good preparation for Sunday.”

Sunderland have not revealed whether or not defender Wes Brown, struggling with a knee problem, will be fit to face Newcastle, but Ricky Alvarez and Will Buckley are expected to recover in time.

Former Sunderland midfielder Dwight Yorke, meanwhile, has suggested that his former boss Roy Keane is more suited to international management than club football.

The pair, who were team-mates at Manchester United, worked together at the Stadium of Light was then sacked by Ipswich in 2011 after he left the North-East.

And Yorke, speaking to The Set Pieces, said: “I think maybe he found club management difficult at times. You have to be involved with people every day, from all levels of the club, and I don’t think that’s really his make up. He’s not the most people person is he?

“I’m sure Keano would tell you that he’s not the best person for all that, so that was probably one of his downfalls.”