Levein ends Fletcher's Scotland exile

Sunderland striker Steven Fletcher is back in Craig Levein's Scotland squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Belgium and Wales.

Fletcher, 25, has been out of the international picture since making himself unavailable for a friendly against Northern Ireland last February.

Obstinate and under-fire, Scotland boss Levein has opted to end his long-running feud with the Black Cats' forward and allow him to return to the international fold.

Scotland have been dire of late, drawing with both Macedonia and Serbia in World Cup 2014 qualifying so far.

With Fletcher bagging five goals in his first five games for the Black Cats, the decision was a 'no-brainer' according to the former Leicester City boss:

'It's a big plus for me and the rest of the team for him to be involved,' Levein told BBC Sport

'I got a phone call through a third party during the week and that was an indication from that person that Steven was desperate to come back and play.

'Things progressed between myself, this third party, his agent and the boy himself.

'I got a text saying he was willing to have a chat about it so I called him last night and, as he said to that person, he was desperate to come back and play.'

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