Will Still has a secret weapon at Southampton FC - it could save them millions | OneFootball

Ross Stewart could be the man to fire Southampton to promotion in the Championship next season under Will Still.

Southampton are preparing for life back in the Championship after their relegation from the Premier League.

It is fair to say that it was a dismal season for Southampton in the top flight as they recorded just 12 points, and the only positive they can take from the campaign is that they avoided breaking Derby County's record for the lowest-ever points total.

However, the Saints did set an unwanted piece of Premier League history as they fell to an unprecedented 30th defeat of the season in their 2-1 loss against Arsenal on Sunday, with Martin Odegaard's 89th-minute winner for the Gunners capping off a year to forget for the South Coast outfit.

It was not all doom and gloom for Southampton on Sunday though, with the club confirming the appointment of Will Still as their new manager on a three-year contract, and the 32-year-old was present in the stands for the clash against Mikel Arteta's side after completing his move from French side Lens, who he guided to an eighth-placed finish in Ligue 1 this season.

Still undoubtedly has a tough task ahead of him to turn the Saints around, but the Arsenal game may have offered him a glimpse of a secret weapon he could unleash in the Championship next term.

Ross Stewart sent Will Still a timely Southampton reminder against Arsenal

In a season where there has been little to cheer for Southampton supporters, the sight of Ross Stewart scoring his first goal for the club in the defeat to Arsenal may have provided a brief moment of jubilation.

Stewart was handed just his fourth start of another injury-disrupted season by interim manager Simon Rusk, and after Kieran Tierney had given the Gunners the lead in the first half, the striker equalised in the 56th minute when he headed home Mateus Fernandes' corner.

Not only did Stewart open his account for the Saints, but it was the first time he has got on the scoresheet for anyone since finding the back of the net for Sunderland in a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough all the way back in January 2023.

Stewart joined Southampton from the Black Cats in September 2023 for a fee of £10 million, but he has been limited to just 17 appearances for the club so far due to a host of long-term injury problems.

After returning from a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a hamstring injury in April, Stewart featured in eight consecutive matches for the Saints, and he will be hoping that his goal against Arsenal can mark the start of an upturn in fortunes after a nightmare few years.

While Still will no doubt already be aware of Stewart's goalscoring prowess, the Scot could not have picked a better time to score his first Southampton goal with his new manager watching on, and he could be a big player for the club next season.

Ross Stewart could be crucial to Will Still's Southampton rebuild

Still will have Cameron Archer and Paul Onuachu at his disposal in the forward areas at Southampton next season, while he will have a big decision to make on the future of Adam Armstrong, who scored 24 goals in 52 games in the club's promotion-winning campaign in the 2023-24 season, once he returns from his loan spell at West Bromwich Albion.

Archer, Onuachu and Armstrong will certainly provide the Saints with an enviable amount of attacking threat, but there is an argument to suggest that a fit and firing Stewart could be their biggest asset next season.

Injuries prevented Stewart from consistently being able to showcase his talent for Sunderland in the Championship, but his record of 10 goals and three assists in just 13 appearances in the 2022-23 campaign underline exactly what he is capable of in the second tier.

Stewart scored 40 goals in 80 games in total for the Black Cats, meaning that he got on the scoresheet once every two games on average, and that was the form that convinced Southampton to pay such a significant fee for the striker's services almost two years ago.

Of course, after such a prolonged spell of injury problems, there is no guarantee that Stewart will be able to stay fit or get back to his best, but the fact that he came through the final two months of the season unscathed suggests that his ordeal may finally be behind him.

Through no fault of his own, Stewart has been unable to repay the Saints' investment in him just yet, but if he can score the goals to fire them to an immediate return to the Premier League next season, he will be worth every penny of his £10 million price tag.

After a horror season in the top flight, Still has a number of big decisions to make this summer as he begins his reign at St Mary's, but the former Reims and Lens manager should seriously consider making Stewart the focal point of his Southampton team next season.