The 27-year-old Saints star is ready to return to full training..

Russell Martin outlines a plan for Ross Stewart’s recovery

 

Ross Stewart, a player who had been out of action since the beginning of the year, raised a few eyebrows among Saints supporters when the club signed him, but Russell Martin has now set the fans’ expectations for when he will return to action.

Ross Stewart is still a ways off from returning to full training. Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray said back in August that he was hoping to get his then striker back in action after the September international break. I said at the time that I thought that target was perhaps a little unrealistic given that he was not yet back in full training with the Mackems and that late September would be more likely given that you would expect that after being out since Jan.

However, Russell Martin has disclosed that Stewart is still some time away from even returning to full team training, much alone participating in a game, making Mowbray’s plan suddenly appear impossible.

Martin reportedly made such suggestion following the international break in October because he had this to say about the players’ rehabilitation, according to The Daily Echo.

He is on the grass and with Bill (Styles), the rehab sports scientist, and the rehab physiotherapist.

We won’t attempt to plunge him in too fast and then lose him; instead, we’ll take as long as it takes to bring him to a position where we know he can be there and stay there.

 

We must be reasonable, in my opinion. About bringing him in, I’m quite eager. He is a terrific man and enormous. As you know, I have already attempted to sign him. For us, he will excel.

“I believe he finds the boys to be enjoyable. He’s attended all of the meetings, but regrettably, he now needs to practice on a separate pitch.

You guys will be made aware of it whenever he reaches the stage where he is prepared. Just to be clear, I don’t want to set a deadline.

He is in an excellent position. It may be tough for him to reach a point where he can truly kick on during this upcoming stretch of five or six games.

“After that, we take a break, which I believe will be ideal for him given how soon he has to recover.

“He cries out to be taken off the leash. He has been absent for some time, and he is eager to demonstrate to everyone his rightful place in this place.

Since he has been out for a while, certain muscles will have lost a lot of strength and power and will take time to regain, only a certain amount of that can be done outside of full training and playing matches, so it appears that Stewart won’t be anywhere near playing a game for at least another four weeks. However, I would say even that is optimistic given that he is still not ready to return to full training. As previously mentioned, Stewart has been out for a long time.

Stewart would need to play in B team matches first, so I would say that we will be looking at the start of November at the very least before he dons a first team shirt. If Russell Martin had told us that he had returned to full-time training this week, I would have thought it optimistic that he would be ready right after the international break.

This is not intended to be an attack on the club for signing an injured player; he is a proven goal scorer at this level, and we will need to score a lot of goals this season since we are finding it difficult to stop them at the other end.

I’m eager to see Ross Stewart in action for the Saints and believe that he might be a crucial component in helping to propel us forward as the season goes on.