Steve Bruce has hit out at critics of Sheffield Wednesday's Steven Fletcher, telling those who hit out at his decision not to accept a call up for Scotland's most recent squad to "do their homework".

Fletcher's revelation that he turned down the call up for Scotland's opening Euro 2020 qualifiers in Kazakhstan and San Marino due to concerns about the impact of artificial pitches on a knee injury, led to one time England international Chris Sutton claiming the striker should never represent his country again, while Scotland international Darren Fletcher also questioned his compatriots decision.

Bruce however, has defended his striker, telling The Star: "I have seen all this nonsense written and spoken about him which would upset anyone.

"At the end of the day, he (Fletcher) had to come off in the last game so he was genuinely injured."

Emphasising the seriousness of Fletcher's injury, picked up in the 4-2 win at home to Blackburn in the final game before the international break, Bruce added: "We were 1-0 up with half and hour to go at the time and we had to take our centre-forward off, which was not ideal, so I wish people would do their homework on him before writing these awful stories about him."

The verdict

The old club vs country row rears its head again.

It is always a difficult decision for players to make between the two, but when it is the club game that keeps you busy day in day out and pays your wages, you feel it is that way that players will lean more often than not, and since neither choice will leave everyone pleased, players ought to look after themselves primarily, as Fletcher has done here.