Steven Fletcher marked his return with two goals as Sunderland beat Darlington 5-1 at Heritage Park this afternoon.

Fletcher notched twice in the opening 20 minutes of his first game since March, sending Gus Poyet's men in at the break with a comfortable 2-0 lead.

Emanuele Giaccherini and Connor Wickham added further goals in the second half before Gary Brown netted a consolation for Martin Gray's Quakers.

Debutant Jordi Gomez also got on the score sheet for Sunderland, blasting home the pick of the afternoon's goals to make it 5-1.

Sunderland next pre-season friendly is against Carlisle on Tuesday