AS Steven Fletcher chases his sixth goal in as many league games tomorrow, Carlos Cuellar has paid his team-mate the highest of compliments by comparing him to Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema.

As a boy Cuellar supported the Spanish giants and despite the fact he has been playing abroad for the past four years, the 31-year-old still takes a huge interest in La Liga.

Cuellar will line up alongside Fletcher in tomorrow's Wear-Tyne derby - a first for both players - and the Black Cats defender hopes his team-mate can give Newcastle's back line a difficult afternoon.

Cuellar, who spent four years at Aston Villa before singing for Sunderland, has also played alongside former Black Cats striker Darren Bent, and asked to compare the two, Cuellar likened the pair to Madrid duo Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain.

"Every striker is different, Bent is a player inside the box, he comes to life in the area. He might not be in the game for large parts but then in the 90th minute he suddenly appears and scores," said Cuellar.

"Fletcher is more of an all-round player, but Bent and Fletcher, it's like trying to compare Karim Benzema to Gonzalo Higuain. Higuain is more a player who scores goals in the box, Benzema scores just as many goals but creates more chances and holds the ball up.

"Steven is a good striker as his record suggests, but he can play outside the box because he can keep the ball and he is a more complete player."

Before becoming team-mates in the summer, Cuellar and Fletcher had met several times on opposing team during their times in both Scotland and England.

Now, Cuellar only has to play against the Scotland striker in training and he believes Sunderland pulled off a coup by landing the 25-year-old.

He said: "I played against Fletch in Scotland, even then you knew he was a good player.

"At Wolves you saw how strong he was and sometimes when you see big players playing for 'smaller' clubs, their performance stands out. Even then you thought he'd get a chance to play for a big club."