Steven Fletcher aiming to put one over former boss Martin O’Neill

Steven Fletcher is determined to get one over the manager who did so much to boost his confidence.

The Scotland striker feels he owes Martin O’Neill a debt of gratitude for parting with a £12-million fee to take him to Sunderland.

All that will be temporarily forgotten on Saturday, though, when Fletcher pulls on the dark blue shirt in Dublin and attempts to end Ireland’s hopes of reaching the European Championships.

Whatever the result, the 28-year-old will spend next season playing for another former Old Firm boss.

Ex-Rangers manager Dick Advocaat performed a remarkable U-turn last week and signed on for another season at Sunderland.

Amazingly, Fletcher sees a lot of similarities between O’Neill, the studious and quirky Republic of Ireland boss, and the Dutch disciplinarian known as ‘The Little General’.

He said: “Dick is similar to Martin in the way he takes you aside and speaks to you, which I like.

“He is intimidating to a certain level, which is good.

“You don’t want to step out of line because he’ll be the first one to tell you to get back in line, but he’s a caring manager as well.

“He cares if you make mistakes, but he tells you if you’re going to make them, then make them on the training pitch.

“If you have someone like that filling you with confidence, that’s great to have.

“Martin O’Neill was the same. He gave me self-confidence by taking me aside and speaking about my game.”

Fletcher was delighted to be able to help Advocaat and Sunderland avoid relegation at the end of the season.

He’s not a player with many regrets, but he wishes he could have done more during O’Neill’s time at the club.

He went on: “I only played under him for a short time because I picked up an injury with Scotland shortly after he bought me and needed an operation.

“I was out for six months and he got the sack before I came back.

“I was really disappointed with that because obviously he showed a lot of faith in me by paying so much money for me.

“I wanted to work more with him but I never got the chance.”

Fletcher was forced to postpone his wedding to play in Saturday’s clash with Ireland.

He will be battling against Sunderland team-mate John O’Shea at the Aviva Stadium and then celebrating with him later in the month when he gets hitched.

Fletcher said: “I’m getting married in Portugal. John’s normally there when I go out on holiday and we play a lot of golf together.

“John and I train with each other every day, so we know all about one another.

“He knows what I’m good and bad at, but I know the same about him.”

Strikers thrive on the confidence that comes with hitting the net and Fletcher is buoyant after becoming the first man for 45 years to bag a hat-trick for Scotland in their last qualifying tie against Gibraltar.

Before that he’d only scored once in 19 internationals.

He said: “Obviously I want to score goals, but I do like to drop in and try to create chances.

“I get just as much satisfaction from creating a goal as I do scoring.

“There are good strikers like Leigh Griffiths challenging for my place but, while I’ve got the shirt, I’d like to keep it as long as I can.”