Exclusive: Ross Stewart offered advice on Southampton situation – “The problem he’s had”
The Saints, who were among the poorest teams in Premier League history at the end of the previous season, have had a mixed start to the Championship, winning once, drawing twice, and losing at home to Stoke City in their first four games in the second division. Naturally, everyone is focused on Sunday’s south coast derby matchup against Portsmouth, which will be the first league encounter between the two fierce rivals in almost 13 years.
Furthermore, it must be acknowledged that a few Southampton players haven’t really taken off this season. Ross Stewart’s start has been a little disheartening; he has only played 38 minutes of Championship football in three games and is currently arguably Still’s fourth-choice, behind Cameron Archer, Adam Armstrong, and Damion Downs, who was signed by £7 million in the summer.
The Scotsman has had terrible injury luck in recent years. He was signed from Sunderland in September 2023 in a reputed £10 million deadline-day move. He only made four appearances during his rookie season, which saw Southampton return to the Premier League under Russell Martin. He also only started four games in the top tier the previous season, but he did score against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal on the last day.
Stewart put pen to paper on a three-year deal to join from Sunderland, and the striker has now entered the final twelve months of his current deal with the club, meaning his fortunes will have to experience some form of uptick if he intends on staying on.
Lee Hendrie offers advice to Southampton’s Ross Stewart
A former Aston Villa midfielder and Sky Sports analyst told Stewart to wait, fight for his spot, and hope for more consistent minutes on the south coast rather than hankering after a move elsewhere in an exclusive interview with Football League World.
Indeed, Hendrie believes that the 29-year-old will have to be patient as he fights his way into Still’s thinking after missing so many games through injury.
“Ross Stewart is a very, very good player, and the problem he’s had is he’s had a lot of time where he’s had to sit and watch, obviously down to injuries,” Hendrie told FLW. “Now, he needs to catch the manager’s attention and begin returning to the player we saw when he was at Sunderland, where he made his move.
“I always felt he could make that step up, there was quality all over him. But unfortunately, he’s been injury-bound and hasn’t been able to get back to that calibre of player.
He has the responsibility of forcing such circumstance and reintegrating himself into the system. He can only accomplish that by waiting for some game time, and I believe that he will also benefit from being around more experienced players. “I think he’s a great player, but he’s going to have to be patient in his approach after being out for some time.”
Ross Stewart has to prove himself in more than one way at Southampton
In general, Stewart must demonstrate that he can maintain his level of fitness and match readiness over an extended length of time. Despite the fact that he cannot be blamed for missing over 100 games due to injury in the past three years, the two-cap Scottish international will be crossing his fingers for a healthy season in what is now his third and possibly final season with Southampton.
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