Southampton striker Ross Stewart is the Saints’ ‘missing-piece’ according to journalist Dean Jones.
Stewart made the move to the south coast in August, joking from Championship rivals Sunderland.
He has been on the sidelines since January though, with an injury to his Achilles tendon.
He has recently come back into training, being pictured with the first team on Tuesday.
He also made a comeback for the under-21s, scoring in a 2-1 win over his former club.
Jones on ‘missing piece’
Speaking to GiveMeSport, Jones said that the return of Stewart could be the key to propelling Saints towards the top of the Championship.
“You would hope so. He had a goal contribution for pretty much every game he played at Sunderland last season. So on the back of that, Southampton know that this is a player that’s got the capability to be the missing piece for Saints, if he can recapture that form. But obviously, it’s been tough for him.
“He’s had such an injury layoff and to just come back in and find that sort of form again is extremely difficult. All Southampton can hope for is that when he does return, that he scores a goal early on, that is the best thing that can happen and that’s the only thing that can spark a return to that kind of moment.
Jones added on Stewart: “Because if it does happen, if he scores in his first game back, then yeah, absolutely. It’s the kind of sign that Southampton need that he can be that missing piece.”
Having Stewart back would be big boost for Saints
It will be amazing for Martin to have Stewart in contention sooner rather than later.
The 27-year-old only has had half a season at Championship level, that being last season for the Black Cats, but showed his quality with 13 goal contributions in as many Championship games, with ten of those being goals.
Stewart will add a different dimension to Martin’s attack, with Stewart’s height any physicality that could be pivotal for the Saints’ possession-based style of play.
It would help when, if the Saints need to go long Stewart is there to win the knockdowns and start attacks from there, something they have not been able to do with Adam Armstrong at striker.
They just need to make sure to be patient and not rush anything when it comes to his recovery, as they won’t want him suffering a similar injury too soon.