Southampton secured their place in the Championship play-off final against Leeds United with a 3-1 home win over West Brom on Friday.
Russell Martin‘s side were impressive as they dominated from start to finish, with a goal from Will Smallbone breaking the deadlock early in the second-half in what was arguably his best performance for the club.
Adam Armstrong doubled the lead in the 78th minute, before converting a penalty on 86 minutes after Ryan Manning was brought down.
Cedric Kipre’s 97th minute goal was too little too late for West Brom and all eyes have now turned to the Wembley final next Sunday.
Southampton had to make do without Che Adams in both legs of the semi-final, whilst Ross Stewart underwent a less intense warm-up than his teammates on Friday night and did not come off the bench.
Martin has now issued a positive injury update on the duo ahead of a week in which he will hope to devise a winning plan to secure a return to the Premier League.
Ross Stewart and Che Adams should be fit for final
Adams picked up a muscle injury on the final day of the regular season against Leeds but was expected to be fine for the play-off semi-finals.
It was surprising enough when the Scotland striker did not make the squad for the first leg last Sunday given Martin had implied his withdrawal at Leeds was merely precautionary, so when the striker was again absent in the second leg it left fans scratching their heads.
Perhaps Martin was masking the true extent of Adams’ injury to disrupt West Brom’s preparations, but fans will hope the 27-year-old is fighting fit next weekend.
Stewart arrived at Southampton injured in the summer and did not make his debut until November.
However, his fitness woes continued as he picked up a hamstring injury in just his second substitute appearance which kept him out until the final day game at Leeds.
Stewart played half an hour of the first leg at The Hawthorns and was expected to build on these minutes in the second leg but did not feature at all.
Martin has now explained why, as well as offering his view on whether he and Adams can feature at Wembley.
The Saints boss said: “He’s (Stewart’s) fine, yeah.”
“He took a whack in the first leg, but he’s taken part in some training and he was only going to be used tonight if we really, really needed him.
“We are really expecting him to be fully fit and recovered in time for the final as well. It could be two really big options for us with Che Adams.”
Stewart injury record cause for concern
Given he had not played a minute since January of 2023, it was a surprise that Southampton saw fit to pay Sunderland £10 million to sign Stewart last summer.
When you combine the fact he was nursing a serious injury and the that he had only played 13 Championship games in his career, it was a big risk by the Saints.
So far, you would be hard pressed to argue that it has paid off as he has made just four appearances; his 30 minutes against Leeds the longest he has been on the pitch this season.
The fact the injury Stewart sustained in just his second game back against Huddersfield Town in November was not a recurrence of his achilles issue but a hamstring problem that would then keep him out for another six months is really concerning.
If his latest injury really is just a knock, as Martin has implied, then this is less worrying and he should recover for the final.
However, the fact Southampton’s marquee summer signing, bought with the intention of getting the club back to the Premier League, has now had three separate injuries stopping him from building up any sort of fitness is troubling.
For the player himself, it must have been a really difficult period being unable to prove himself at his new club.
An important contribution at Wembley to help Southampton secure a return to the Premier League could mean all is quickly forgotten, though, and that will be exactly what Stewart is dreaming of.
