OTD: ROSS STEWART DEBUT GOAL

On this day in 2021, Ross Stewart scored on his Sunderland debut at the Wham Stadium against Accrington Stanley. The Scotsman helped the Lads to a 2-0 win away from home...

When Ross Stewart first signed for Sunderland, many fans were unsure about his arrival. He was a very unknown player in the English game, and questions were asked of whether or not he would score the goals we needed to win promotion. However, the 24-year -old was very highly rated at Ross County and had won three personal awards at the club. He won the Player of the Season award, Young Player of the Season award, and Players' Player of the Season award, all in the 19/20 campaign. This meant that in order for Sunderland to acquire his services, they had to pay a £300,000 fee.

The Scottish striker was initially injured when he first signed for the club, so he had to wait patiently for his opportunity. Not to mention, Charlie Wyke was scoring goals for fun at that time. After a three month wait, Stewart was finally subbed on at half time against Accrington Stanley. He was brought on with the simple task of scoring a goal, as the match was goalless at the break.

On the hour mark, Stewart got on the end of a Gooch ball in and looped a header high in the sky that dropped into the far corner for a debut goal. It was a great moment for the Scottish forward, who had opened his account just 21 minutes into his debut.

A late Wyke goal sealed the three points for the Lads, who won the game 2-0. Sunderland went up to third place that night. A great debut for Ross Stewart.

Of course, all of our doubts about Stewart quickly faded. When we sold Charlie Wyke, the newly-dubbed 'Loch Ness Drogba' played almost every minute and was the main reason we won promotion to the Championship. Unfortunately, his impact in the following season was highly limited due to two long term injuries, the second of which meant he didn't feature after January. He did manage 11 goals and three assists during his just 15 matches though.

His poor injury record has followed him to the south coast as well, after he completed a deadline day transfer to Southampton in the summer of 2023. At the time of writing, he's played just nine games for the Saints over one and a bit seasons, never finding the net. After initially recovering from the Achilles injury he picked up here, he suffered a muscle injury that kept him out for the rest of the 2023/24 campaign. He recovered from this but then it wasn't long before he was on the treatment table yet again, this time because of his hamstring.