Shaun Maloney on Steven Fletcher’s Scotland return

SHAUN Maloney believes the return of Steven Fletcher could have a similarly positive impact on Scotland’s results and performances as the rehabilitation of Carlos Tevez did for Manchester City last season.

Exiled for six months after his fall-out with City manager Roberto Mancini as he sulked on the substitutes’ bench during a Champions League tie, Tevez made his peace and played a crucial role in the club’s dramatic and historic Premier League title triumph.

Fletcher’s two-year absence from Scotland duty, prompted by Craig Levein’s decision to leave him in the stand for the 1-0 defeat to Czech Republic in Prague, will end on Friday night when the Sunderland striker is expected to lead the line against Wales in the crucial World Cup qualifier in Cardiff.

Any notion of ill feeling from the rest of the Scotland squad towards the previously reluctant Fletcher has been dismissed by Maloney, the Wigan midfielder reasoning that any team will be pragmatic enough to embrace the availability of a player who can enhance their prospects of success.

“Maybe it is a bit like the Tevez
situation at Manchester City,” said Maloney. “Steven is obviously going to add something to us and make us a better squad. So everyone will be looking at that side of things.

“I don’t think there is a 
negative side to it from our point of view. It’s purely down to him playing and doing well for Scotland. Everyone was pleased to see him back in the squad after the decision he made to take himself out of the selection process.

“There were constant 
questions about it, but I’m glad it’s resolved. When I played against him for Wigan against Sunderland a few weeks ago, he was outstanding. Not just the goal he scored, but his all round play was very, very good. 
Form-wise, he is among the best strikers in the Premier League.

“I don’t think that anyone apart from Steven and the manager knows exactly what went on and how it got to the stage where he wasn’t playing. But in terms of getting on with him as a person, I don’t think anyone is going to hold anything against him. It’s not been discussed. Nothing’s been said and I doubt that it will be. It happened in a previous campaign so I don’t think it’s too much of an issue. 
I haven’t spoken to him about it. When I saw him at training I 
just asked him how his game against Manchester City at the weekend had gone. It hasn’t been brought up.

“David Weir came back to play for Scotland after making himself unavailable and did really well. There were one or two others who maybe weren’t as successful. But Steven’s a fine player who will certainly add something to the squad. The goals he’s scoring and the level he’s scoring them at, we don’t have too many doing that at the moment, so the players will be pleased that he’s back.”

Maloney feels Fletcher may also have developed a more 
mature attitude towards any 
future occasion when he is not selected in the starting line-up by Levein, albeit a prospect which seems inconceivable on his current form.

“It can be frustrating because everyone wants to play,” added Maloney. “The older you get, though, you start to take these decisions differently. When you’re younger you can become overly frustrated by it, but now, if you’re left out of the team, you just have to get on with it. You tend to respect the choice the manager has made and also 
respect your team-mates who will be playing. You take it 
better as an older player.”

Maloney is now in his fifth qualifying campaign as a Scotland player and admits to an increasing sense of anxiety to end the country’s lengthening absence from a major finals.

“Ever since I’ve been in the squad, it’s been talked about that the country’s last tournament was France in 1998,” added Maloney. “At the start of each campaign, there is this near-on desperation from supporters, media and the squad as well to qualify for a major tournament.

“Another one has started and there is that same desperation. It’s just something we all want. I don’t think we will be 
short on effort to get there. It’s going to be down to whether we are good enough as a team. I guess we’ll find out pretty soon if we are.

“I felt it was a decent start last month, although the draw against Serbia was a better result than the draw against 
Macedonia. It was disappointing not to win the second game.

“So it’s been decent but it’s 
obviously going to have to get a lot better from here on in if we’re going to qualify. I don’t know whether we have to beat Wales on Friday to have any chance of qualifying but a win would certainly give us a better chance. It’s a massively 
important game for both teams.

“They’ve lost twice so it would be an uphill task for Wales if we were to beat them. They’d probably argue that they still have seven games left but it would make it very difficult for them. I didn’t see their defeat in Serbia but I watched them against Belgium and they were unfortunate to have James Collins sent off.

“If guys like Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey play at the top of their game, it obviously brings Wales to a different level. If Craig Bellamy was playing, he would also make their team 
better. It’s a loss for them that he is not playing, but players pull out quite frequently at international level and you just have to deal with it.

“After drawing our first two games, a win in Wales would give us a massive bonus. If the result doesn’t go our way on Friday night, then it will make the game in Belgium next Tuesday all the tougher, but even if we win on Friday, it’s going to be very difficult against Belgium. A win against Wales would give us some sort of confidence ahead of Brussels, though. I don’t think we are going to have an easy match in this group.

“I’ve noticed that there seems to be Belgian players involved in almost every Premier League match I play this season. They have got a hell of a squad. 
Going through their starting eleven, they are all playing at top Premier League clubs.

“It’s a great game to play in though. These players are fantastic and it will be great to test yourself against them and try to get a result for our country.

“I played against some of them for Wigan against Everton at the weekend. Marouane Fellaini has been in great form. We’ve also played Chelsea this season and Eden Hazard was really good. We are well aware of what to expect.”