Luckless Scotland star suffers more injury heartache in first start for 616 days

AFTER a wait of almost TWO YEARS, Ross Stewart was finally handed his first start for Southampton.

But it lasted a grand total of just 26 minutes.

2

He joined the club in 2023 for a fee of around £11m after a stellar season with Sunderland and the hope was he would help fire Saints back to the Premier League.

But the former Ross County striker, who was injured at the time of signing for the St Mary’s side, was beset by fitness issues and was limited to just four substitute appearances.

As it happened, Russell Martin guided Saints to the Premier League via the play-offs and all things going well, Stewart would play his part in the campaign to keep them in the division.

Until this afternoon’s game against Arsenal, Stewart had played a total of 103 minutes – all coming from the bench.

Martin opted to hand the 28-year-old his first start today but after just 26 minutes his dream comeback turned into a nightmare.

Stewart was forced off with the score at 0-0 as he pulled up with a muscle issue.

Southampton‘s physios rushed onto the pitch to give the Scotland international treatment but he had to be substituted and replaced by Cameron Archer.

Martin admitted he was utterly devastated for the forward, whose career trajectory looked to be skyrocketing this time two years ago as he was banging the goals in for Sunderland and attracting attention for national team boss Steve Clarke.

Gaffer Martin said: “Ross has got a muscle injury, so we’ll scan that. I’m absolutely gutted for him, he’s worked so hard to come back.

“We are honestly so disappointed for him. Everyone is.

“We just have to see how bad it is and then I know he’ll attack it in the same way he does everything.

“It’s hard for him to deal with but he has a huge resilience and character, so we’ll have to go again and see how long he’s going to be.

“I don’t think any of us will understand the level of frustration, hurt and pain he’ll feel right now.

“I just don’t think it’s ever easy. A footballer‘s journey is never easy, whatever age you are. They have to have a certain level of resilience just to make it this far.

“His journey’s not been easy either, in the lower leagues and up in Scotland. So, yeah, we will help him, we will support him.

“Our job is to help these players, especially the young guys and the guys who have not been here long, on their journey. We’ll continue to try and do that.”

Our New YouTube Channel

Subscribe to our new Scottish Sun Sport YouTube channel for all the latest football news, views and amazing moments.

We’ve got every major development covered from Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen and the rest of the Scottish Premiership.

Plus we have TWO brilliant new podcasts to watch every week…

MONDAY

Go Ballistic with Roger Hannah and special guest Kris Boyd will dissect all the weekend action and deliver their no-holds-barred reaction.

WEDNESDAY

Robert Grieve and Bill Leckie chew over the tastiest topics in Scottish football and offer their unique takes in their Coffee Club.

FRIDAY

Go Ballistic is back with Roger Hannah and top tipster Jim Delahunt looking ahead to the weekend games and analysing the biggest talking points.

Subscribe now and don’t miss a thing.

Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page