Swansea visit Southampton without the striker Saints let leave for nothing

When the fixture list dropped in August and paired Swansea with Southampton on a Tuesday night at St Mary's in just the third week, a certain 'Lochness Drogba' must have afforded himself a wry smile.

Three years on the south coast, and then a contract nobody could agree on, would give the opportunity for the Scotsman to prove the South Coast club wrong. Sadly for him and Swansea, Ross Stewart will spend the evening in a coat, probably watching from the stands.

Vitor Matos called the soft tissue problem "not massive" and put the comeback somewhere around the international break. Swansea Bay News wrote that Stewart will miss four matches. Only one of those matches was ever going to mean anything to the player.

The three years that ended with no new contract

Twelve goals in fifty games is not a particularly great return for a Southampton striker. Until last season, injuries were never more than a few games away. Long spells out of the squad had become commonplace, and just as he looked ready to go on a run of games, he kept breaking down.

Last season, he managed nine in the league despite a hamstring that kept dragging him back to the treatment table. He got the opener in the FA Cup quarter-final win over Arsenal, and Saints supporters will still be describing that afternoon to their grandchildren one day.

Then the talks stalled. Southampton let the contract run out at the end of June rather than meet his demands of a longer contract, and Swansea picked up a Scotland international without paying anybody a penny. Saints Marching has since weighed up the summer business, with that departure filed under acceptable losses.

Acceptable depends on Cyle Larin's hamstrings holding out until May.

Why nobody on the south coast has missed him yet

Larin has five in five. Ask a Saints fan whether Ross Stewart has crossed their mind once since the Millwall game, and they would probably say no.

Divin Mubama is the supposed cover, but Saturday suggested that he might not be quite up to the task. He replaced Larin on 62 minutes at Lincoln; nothing stuck to him for the rest of the afternoon, and Southampton stopped looking like a side that would score a second. That is the precise scenario Southampton should have kept Stewart for.

Oddly, Stewart's absence may suit Swansea, because a striker who arrived without a pre-season and has managed one appearance off the bench was never going to walk into a side this settled. Adam Idah leads the line instead, and Matos gets to name the team that has already amassed eleven points.

Southampton go into tomorrow night's match 19th on four points, with a goal difference that says they belong in the top six. Flynn Downes, who had a season at Swansea himself, has spent the weekend telling anyone listening that dropped points are the thing that will sink this promotion push.

Stewart gave this club three years and a goal against Arsenal that will outlive both his Southampton contract and his Swansea one. He deserved a better return to St Mary's than a seat in the stand.

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