£10m Scotland international hit by fresh set-back as injury nightmare continues

Scotland international Ross Stewart’s long-awaited return from injury appears to have hit another roadblock after he suffered a ‘reaction’ on his return to the pitch for Southampton.

The injury-plagued striker has endured a nightmarish last 18 months following his transfer to the English Premier League strugglers, playing just 156 minutes of football due to a succession of injuries after making a megabucks move to St Mary’s from Sunderland for an initial fee of £8million.

The ex-Ross County man had been in prolific form for Sunderland, scoring 26 times in Sunderland's 21/22 campaign, before bagging a further 11 goals in 15 EFL Championship games following their promotion from League One. His goal scoring form saw him earn a maiden call up to Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad, where he made his debut as a substitute in the 2-0 Nations League win over Armenia, while he was also heavily linked with a move back to Scotland with Rangers in the summer of 2022.

The Scottish marksman’s progress was halted though, after he was struck down by an Achilles tendon injury in January 2023. Despite that, his deadly form in front of goal prior to his injury saw Southampton strike an agreement with Sunderland for his services on deadline day in a deal that could rise to £10million based on a performance related bonus.

The striker has endured a nightmare run of injuries since joining from Sunderland in September 2023.

Following a brief period of recovery, Stewart made his league debut for the Saints in November of that year as a late substitute in a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion. Just two weeks after making his Saints bow though, he suffered a hamstring injury that limited him to just a further four appearances, cutting short his season short as Russell Martin’s side won promotion to the English top flight via the playoffs.

Despite his frustrating first season at St Mary’s, the 28-year-old returned for pre-season training and slowly made his way back to fitness, appearing off the bench in four English Premier League games before being handed his first Southampton start in a game against Arsenal at the Emirates in October. Disaster would strike early though, with Stewart taken off just 26 minutes into his comeback after pulling up with a muscle problem, which has ruled out of first team action ever since.

There appeared to be light at the end of the tunnel for Stewart in recent weeks, when he played 45 minutes for Southampton under-21s recently. Having not made any further appearances since, it has been revealed that his recovery has been ‘scaled back’ on advice from the club’s medical team after they noticed a reaction to his injury.

The Daily Echo’s senior Southampton FC reporter Alfie House updated supporters on the forward’s fitness, writing on X: “Don’t think there’s any major problem but was a bit of a reaction to that 45 minutes so he didn’t play in their next 21s game, not sure what latest is.”

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