Sunderland boss Gus Poyet was delighted with Steven Fletcher after his brace helped them to a 3-1 win over Stoke City.
The Scot did not even make the matchday 18 for the clash with Tottenham last month.
Poyet said: "I am very pleased for Fletch because I know how hard it was for him to be in the situation where a few weeks ago, I left him out of the squad. Decisions, like I always say.
"He was not happy, but he took it professionally and kept working. The previous week before we played Swansea, we were able to see something special in Fletch, he was coming back in training to his best.
"He had a chance to score the other day against Swansea, and this really was outstanding.
"I always say, the first way for you to be picked is Saturday, 3pm - if you play well, then you have got a better chance of playing next week; the second part is training every day.
"If you are good in training every day, I don' think there's a manager who is not going to play you. Fletch deserved to play today."
