Southampton: Positive Ross Stewart update emerges from St Mary's | OneFootball

Southampton striker Ross Stewart is back in light training as he continues his recovery from a hamstring problem.

Ross Stewart’s injury struggles

The Scotland international has had a terrible few years with injuries, having missed the majority of last season with an Achilles problem, which restricted him to just 13 Championship appearances, although he did score ten goals.

Even though he had an issue, Southampton still decided to bring Stewart to the south coast from Sunderland in a deal that could be worth £12m.

Yet, the injury problems would persist for Stewart, as he took longer to recover from the Achilles injury than expected, and he then suffered a serious hamstring problem in just his second league outing for Southampton.

That came back in late November, and Martin had ruled the forward out for the rest of the season, as he vowed not to rush the 27-year-old back.

Ross Stewart injury latest

It remains to be seen whether Stewart is able to return before the end of the campaign, but there was an encouraging update on the ex-Inverness man, as journalist Alfie House revealed that is back training after speaking to Martin.

“Ross Stewart is back on grass doing light work and will slowly be reintegrated. Not to expect too much of him but positive news.”

Southampton’s attacking options

As mentioned, Martin is going to be patient with Stewart, but there are still around six weeks left in the regular season, and then potentially the play-offs, so there’s no reason why Stewart can’t get himself involved before it’s finished.

However, the positive for Southampton is that they aren’t reliant on Stewart, as they are scoring plenty of goals without him.

Adam Armstrong has been prolific this season, and Che Adams brings the physicality that Martin sometimes wants from a number nine, whilst Sekou Mara is another striker, even if he has lacked goals.

So, there’s enough quality there, but there’s no doubt that Stewart would bring something different with his aerial ability and how he can bring others into play.

For Stewart though, it’s not about setting targets this season, he will just want to stay fit over a lengthy period, and he certainly won’t be looking too far ahead. Clearly, the workload will increase gradually over the next few weeks, and it’s then about looking at how his body holds up to that.

All connected to Southampton and the player will hope that he can come through that, because he really has had terrible luck in recent years, and it’s such a shame, because he was flying at Sunderland, which is what convinced Saints to splash out to bring him to the club.

Next up for Martin’s men is a home game against Middlesbrough, as they look to close the gap on the top three.

That is the start of a very busy month for Southampton, as they have two games in hand on Leeds and Ipswich above them in the league after fixtures against Leicester and Preston were postponed.