Exclusive:Former Scotland man makes World Cup plea to Steve Clarke and reveals failed Premiership transfer bid

Before that, manager Steve Clarke will name a 55-man provisional group - which will be trimmed to 26 - and when the time comes to make the big decisions, former Scotland hitman Steven Fletcher believes three forwards already have their seats booked for America.

But if Che Adams, Lyndon Dykes and Lawrence Shankland are Fletcher’s certainties to be picked, he feels there is one more space in the squad - and that it should be given to someone who is bang in form.

There are candidates playing in the English Championship. Oli McBurnie has scored 15 times for Hull this season and Ross Stewart, whose career at Southampton has been blighted by injury, has hit a purple patch in the league and in the FA Cup. Fletcher wants them, as well as Hellas Verona’s Kieron Bowie, given careful consideration.

“For me, with this group of players, they have to aim to get out of the groups,” said Fletcher of a Scotland team that will face Haiti, Morocco and Brazil in Group C. “If they don’t go any further than that, I don’t think they should be too hard on themselves, because getting out of a World Cup group is a tough thing. If you get out of the group, then it’s even harder. If we did that, I think the fans would be really proud of them.

“I like big Rosco [Ross Stewart] at Southampton. But it’s a tough one, there’s three that you think will go. Shanks [Lawrence Shankland], Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes. But if there’s one up for grabs, it goes off form, doesn’t it? I’d like to see him pick a fourth striker and go based on form. [Oli] McBurnie is on form at Hull City, and Kieron Bowie is hitting some form. It’s a tough one, that’s why he is the manager and not me - so good luck to him!”

Fletcher, who scored 10 goals in 33 appearances for Scotland during his playing career, also shared his thoughts on how the team will handle the searing heat in North America.

“We [Wrexham] did pre-season in America for two years in a row,” said Fletcher. “It is hot. There will be drink breaks, but the boys will forget about the heat. They’ll be able to cope. I thought about going over there as a fan, but I’ve got work to do here. It’ll just be a party over there!”

Fletcher, 39, will be able to catch all the action without the worry of returning for pre-season after he brought down the curtain on his career earlier last summer after a trophy-laden two-year spell with Wrexham, who are owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Scoring eight league goals in his final season at the Racecourse Ground, he played a pivotal role in helping the Disney+ darlings secure a historic third successive promotion.

However, Fletcher admits he did have offers to extend his career when his contract expired in the summer, admitting he had options on the table from the Scottish Premiership, and revealed why he turned them down and chose to ride off into the sunset instead after a career that saw him score 170 career goals for the likes of Hibs, Sunderland, Dundee United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

“I’m enjoying retirement, I’m not going to lie,” said Fletcher. “I’m on the golf course every day, so I can’t complain. But it’s been good. I don’t miss it, which I think is the telltale sign that I made the right decision. The only thing you probably miss is the changing room with the boys, that’s probably the only thing I miss.

“I finished on a high, and I didn’t want to maybe go and chase a high that maybe wasn’t going to be there. I could have come up to a team in Scotland easily. I did have offers in the Scottish Premiership to come back up, but I didn’t want to sign for someone and think two weeks later, ‘oh, what have I done’.

“I’d just come off the back of back-to-back promotions with a A-list celebrities hosting me in Vegas after the promotion parties. Coming up to Scotland, and maybe not being able to give everything that I had to offer because I wasn’t happy, so I might have made the right decision. I’ve got three kids, it was time to be a dad.”

Steven Fletcher was speaking at the launch of the Panini FIFA World Cup 2026™ Official Sticker Collection at Barclays Hampden Park Stadium. For more information visit: www.paninigroup.com