Southampton FC star Ross Stewart sends play-off message to Sunderland.

Southampton striker Ross Stewart is hoping that his former club Sunderland wins the play-offs and replaces the Saints in the Premier League.

Moving from the northeast to the south coast two summers ago was fully justified when Stewart’s new club achieved post-season success, defeating Leeds United 2-0 in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium to secure a place in the Premier League this season.

The hard-earned return to the top was quickly dashed, however, as it became clear that Southampton would be unable to compete with the Premier League’s standards.

If the Black Cats, with whom the 28-year-old Scot previously enjoyed play-off success, replicate Southampton’s success a year ago by defeating Coventry City in the semis and then one of Bristol City or Sheffield United in the final, they will join Burnley and Leeds United in the top flight next season. Stewart hopes to see it happen.

Ross Stewart believes Sunderland will reach the Premier League.

Stewart believes that a club of Sunderland’s size should be represented in the Premier League, despite their previous semi-final loss to eventual winners Luton Town.

“I’ll certainly be watching the next week or two in the Play-Offs and I wish them all the best,” said the Southampton forward in an interview with the Wearside club. “I hope they get promoted. It’s a club that should compete in the Premier League.”

In 2022, the striker helped Sunderland win the play-offs by defeating Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 over two legs in the semi-final and defeating Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 at the home of English football. The Scot scored the second goal.

The major injury he sustained in the following campaign against Fulham in the FA Cup prevented him from assisting Tony Mowbray and his teammates the following season, when they were also involved in post-season action – this time in the Championship.

Sunderland must flip the switch to achieve play-off success.

Sunderland are in poor form as they enter the season’s playoffs. They’ve lost their last five games and haven’t earned three points in a game in over a month – AKA, exactly the type of run you don’t want to have coming up against three cup finals.

However, form can often be lost in the postseason. The Black Cats have known their fate for a while and haven’t had much to fight for. Now they do. They have a reason to perform at their best.

It will take a monumental shift to get them past Coventry alone, but Regis Le Bris’ team has the talent to make such a dramatic improvement in performance.