When the Saints team returned to the dressing room after the hard fought win over West Bromwich Albion, there was one player who received a round of applause from the squad, but it wasn't who you would have thought it would be.
When the jubilant team returned to the St Mary's dressing room after defeating West Bromwich Albion, one player came in for special treatment, however it wasn't striker Adam Armstrong who scored the winner, neither was it central defenders Mason Holgate and Taylor Harwood-Bellis or goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu who kept the lead intact with a superb late save.
The man who was applauded was debutant Ross Stewart who was making his first competitive appearance since getting injured whilst playing for Sunderland back in January.
It has been a tough road for the Scottish striker in nearly 10 months and his new team mates have seen how hard he has worked not just in the 2 1/2 months he has been at the club, but in his final months at Sunderland.
Hampshire Live spoke to Southampton manager Russell Martin about Stewart after the game and he had this to say.
"The lads applauded him in the dressing room after the game. The reaction from the crowd was great, "I thought he did great when he came on. I would have liked him to keep it in the corner for a little bit longer rather than decide to turn back"
"It’s been a long road for him to get to this point and I’m really proud of him. He is such a brilliant lad. Now it’s our job to get him as fit and ready as possible and keep building up those minutes to get him into the team - which isn’t going to be easy for him at the moment."
Martin also revealed that the former Sunderland man is likely to get a run out this week during the international break.
"We have a practice match this week where he can get even more minutes in to prepare himself further."
"He knows the challenge at hand and he is more than ready for it. I look forward to seeing him getting fitter and stronger.”
Stewart got a great reception from Southampton supporters when he came on, although some were puzzled that he was played out wide rather than as a striker, it was also a brave move from the manager to take off Adam Armstrong, perhaps the most important & productive player in the final minutes of most games due to his non stop running & bring on another striker out of position.
But all's well that ends well and Saints took all the points in what was just about the toughest game of the season, with respect to Leicester & Ipswich who caught us at a bad time.