Ex-Sunderland striker opens up on his struggles at the Stadium of Light and his upturn in form at Middlesbrough

Ashley Fletcher seems to be going from strength to strength at Middlesbrough.

The 24-year-old striker finished as the club’s top scorer last season, netted some crucial goals during Boro’s relegation battle and is already off the mark for the 2020/21 campaign following a brace in the Carabao Cup.

Yet it hasn’t always been easy for the Bradford-born frontman, who has often been thrown into pressurised situations and expected to perform instantly in difficult circumstances.

When Fletcher signed for Boro for £6.5 million as a 21-year-old, the Teessiders were expected to gain immediate promotion back to the Premier League with an expensively-assembled squad.

Within a couple of months, though, Fletcher was loaned out to North East neighbours Sunderland and asked to fill the void left by in-form striker Lewis Grabban, tasked with scoring the goals to keep the Black Cats in the Championship.

Two years later, Fletcher is a regular starter on merit at the Riverside after receiving an opportunity to perform regularly under former boss Jonathan Woodgate.

Last season’s impact

When asked about the reasons behind his upturn in form, Fletcher, who made 43 league appearances last term, tells our sister title the Hartlepool Mail: “I think in fairness it was just me playing regularly and I think I hadn’t really had that until last year.

“I’ve always known that if I play regularly, whether it’s scoring or providing that I do contribune. I hadn’t really had a season at Middlesbrough where I had a full season of like 46 games to get my head down and knuckle down for the season.

“With Jonathan last season he said to me you’re going to be a main player in the team and that gave me the confidence at the start of the season.

“I had a tricky period but I came out of it so hopefully I can have that same impact this year and score more goals than I did last season.”

Struggles at Sunderland

During that miserable stint at Sunderland, which saw Fletcher score just two goals and ended in relegation, the striker sought advice from sports psychologist Martin Perry, a key figure who he remains in touch with.

“We still speak quite a bit sometimes,” adds Fletcher, who says last season’s relegation battle didn’t feel as desperate as the one he faced at Sunderland.

“Obviously you can’t just use him when you are in a difficult situation, it’s good to use him as well when you are doing well. We speak from time to time and he just sees how I am.

“I think that time I had at Sunderland benefitted me last season because I never really felt like we were in that scenario that I was in there and I kind of knew how to handle the pressure in a relegation battle.

“Obviously there were times when there were dark days like at Barnsley for example when we got beat and things like that, but I think me being in that situation before I tried to rub it off on other players that we don’t need to worry too much.

“No player wants to get relegated and to have two on your CV would be terrible so that kind of gave me a bit of extra motivation.

“Middlesbrough should be nowhere near the relegation places anyway and I hope we never have to be anywhere near that again.”

Fletcher also believes there was more unity and togetherness in Boro’s dressing room last season compared to his spell on Wearside.

"I think the players that we had at Sunderland at the time, you would have said there is no way that team should be anywhere near the relegation zone,” says Fletcher.

“Like everyone knows there was off the field stuff with players’ contracts and stuff like that, all that kind of stuff.

“There was that last year for us to be fair but at the same time those players who were out of contract, like George (Friend), Clayts (Adam Clayton), Marvin Johnson, they all bought into what was right, even Shots as well, Ryan Shotton.

“There were players who kind of, they didn’t throw away their time here and pulled together in one direction without knowing what was happening at the end of the season.”

Stepping up at Boro

Three of the four aforementioned players have since left Boro, meaning Fletcher is one of the more experienced players in Neil Warnock’s young squad.

“I’m going to be turning 25 in a few weeks so with that comes more responsibility,” the striker admits.

“You look around the dressing room at the minute and I don’t think there are too many players over the age of 26, 27. I’d like to see myself as having more of an influential role in the dressing room.

“The manager has said to us in the last few weeks, he said you have been at clubs where there have been leaders and talkers but we don’t really have that here at the minute.

“Ultimately football is done by talking with your feet and if you get results then you don’t really need leaders if we can just perform.

“We have a young and exciting squad at the minute, a lot of young players who have had that experience last season and if we can use that this season we should be fine.”

Fletcher will certainly have a big part to play this campaign, yet his previous challenges should stand him in good stead.

Read part one of our exclusive interview with Ashley Fletcher here