<text>  Steven Fletcher has been buoyed by Dick Advocaats early influence at Sunderland. Advocaat was drafted in to help the Black Cats avoid relegation after Gus Poyets sacking and, despite losing his only game so far, at West Ham, Scotland striker Fletcher is upbeat about the run-in. The club lie just a point and a place above the bottom three with eight matches to go, but Advocaat has already made an impact. Dick Advocaats early influence has been hailed by Sunderland striker Steven Fletcher . Fletcher right says its been really lively at Sunderland since the Dutchman came in . Its been really lively since the new coach has come in; hes a lively character and hes brought that into the training sessions, Fletcher told safc.com. He wants us all to give 100 per cent and believes weve got the quality to turn our fortunes around and push up the league. He wants us to play a lot more compact and push forward as a unit, and I think we did that in the last game because we won balls back and created chances. Weve got to remain upbeat and stick to the task at hand. Advocaat has been brought in to save Sunderland from relegation after Gus Poyet pictured was sacked . Despite their struggles at the helm, both Poyet and his predecessor Paolo Di Canio enjoyed early success against Tyne-Wear rivals Newcastle, and Advocaat has his own opportunity after the international break. Theres no better game to turn things around in than the derby, added Fletcher. Its a great first home game for the new coach, so were all looking forward to it. 