How ex-Sunderland and West Ham striker has transformed his fortunes to become a key player for Middlesbrough

Up until Tuesday’s 2-1 win at Reading, there were still genuine fears the Teessiders could be relegated to League One, an unthinkable prospect given Boro haven’t played in England’s third tier since 1987.

Yet Fletcher’s equaliser on the stroke of half-time helped turn the tide at the Madejski Stadium, where a decisive victory moved Boro to the brink of Championship survival.

It isn’t the first time Fletcher has scored a pivotal goal this campaign either.

A winning goal against relegation rivals Barnsley in November moved the Teessiders out of the bottom three, while Fletcher’s equaliser against Stoke in December came at a critical moment.

Frustrations were threatening to boil over at the Riverside after Boro fell behind against the Potters that night, yet, after coming from behind to win, Jonathan Woodgate’s side won their next three games over the Christmas period.

When you add into the mix Fletcher’s opening goal in the reverse fixture at Stoke last month, and his recent assist for Britt Assombalonga’s opener at Millwall, you begin to realise just how important the 24-year-old has been.

For the first time in his career, the striker has reached double figures in terms of his goalscoring stats, netting 13 in all competitions.

That is also because Fletcher has played a lot more games this term, making 41 Championship appearances which is more than his two previous years at Boro combined.

He wasn’t a regular starter at West Ham before signing for Boro in 2017, while the striker’s loan spell at Sunderland, which ended in relegation, was a challenging experience to say the least.

Yet consistent game time and the chance to play as a central striker, under both Woodgate and Neil Warnock, has given Fletcher more belief.

An honest talker, Fletcher gave a frank answer when asked about this season during an interview on Boro’s official website after the Reading win.

"This season, looking at the league table it’s not where we want to be at all but on a personal level, I’m happy that I’ve had managers who have trusted me to lead the line and play a big part in the season,” Fletcher said.

"That goes down to Jonathan and Neil, they’ve put a lot of responsibility on me and I like to think I’ve been repaying them as well.”

Two years ago Fletcher wasn’t able to carry the burden for Boro’s North East neighbours Sunderland who also needed a goalscorer to avoid relegation from the Championship.

The striker has openly admitted he struggled to deal with the pressure after moving to Wearside, where there were high expectations to perform instantly.

“I was 22 at the time and I was brought in as the guy to save Sunderland,” Fletcher recently told the Konversations With Kenji podcast. “They were in the bottom three and I was supposed to be this guy coming in to score all the goals.

"So automatically all the pressure is on. On day one at the press conference I remember one of the reporters saying, 'you have to be our saviour', and I was like, 'wow'.”

The experience caused Fletcher to start seeing a psychologist and, by his own admission, helped the striker become a man.

"I learned a lot,” Fletcher added. “Everything in my career had been fairly rosy until that point, and then you go where you're losing games every week and you're not scoring goals, it does affect you.”

Boro now appear to be benefitting from Fletcher’s previous experiences, even though the Teessiders remain the lowest scorers in the Championship.

This season, Fletcher’s strike partner Britt Assombalonga has struggled with an ankle issue, while Rudy Gestede was also injured for most of the campaign and left the club last month.

Fletcher’s partnership with Assombalonga has been a puzzling one at times. The pair clearly get on well off the field, yet it hasn’t always clicked on the pitch.

This season we’ve seen flashes of what the duo can do, most recently when they combined effectively during the win at Millwall.

Yet Fletcher has also linked up well with Manchester City loanee Patrick Roberts, who has assisted a couple of the striker’s goals

"Everyone knows my relationship with Britt off the pitch is brilliant and that shows on the pitch as well,” added Fletcher during his interview with the club’s website.

"For me as a striker you just have to get yourself in an area where they are going to put the ball and Pat over the last couple of games, obviously the Stoke goal and the Reading goals were very similar.”

That service hasn’t always been there for Boro’s strikers this season, yet Roberts, who has been out with a hamstring injury, offers a different threat.

Roberts netted the winner against Reading and Fletcher has enjoyed linking up with the playmaker.

"I think it was long overdue,” said Fletcher when asked about Roberts’ goal. “He’s been really unlucky, when he first came to the club everyone was like ‘wow’ we’ve got some player on our hands’.”

"Obviously he got injured and it kind of stopped our momentum, he’s been a major plus coming back in the last few games.

“He adds that little bit more quality and that eye to create things as well where other people might not be able to.”

Those chances still have to be taken, though, and, while he’s still developing into an established Championship striker, Fletcher has often taken them when it counts this season.

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