Scotland striker strengthens case for World Cup re-inclusion - and banishes demons in process

Stewart has endured a nightmare spell with injuries in the last two seasons, but the 29-year-old continued his impressive recent scoring streak when he blasted home a 90th-minute penalty to fire Tonda Eckert’s second-tier side into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a 1-0 win against the Cottagers.

His Southampton third goal in his last four games, the strike held extra significance for the former Ross County man, whose major injury troubles first began when he ruptured his Achilles playing for former club Sunderland on the same ground and in the same competition little over three years ago.

“It's an amazing feeling,” said Stewart after the game. “I love those moments. As a striker, I wanted the penalty. I practiced them quite a lot, so I knew when I got it what I was looking to do. It was just good to hit the net. It's a moment I’ve missed. I've had a really tough time with injury, I love playing and helping the team."

“We put so much into the game, had a massive support here today and to get the win in that manner is really cool. We can look forward to the draw now. We came together after January with the squad we've got and we've put in some great performances. We've got a lot of confidence and we were a match for a team in the league above us.”

Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert admitted: “We had two penalty takers assigned. They were not on the pitch anymore, both of them, and it was quite clear who should take. Roscoe asked me, and then Taylor [Harwood-Bellis] asked me if Ross should take it, and I said yes, of course. I had no doubt he would score.”

With Scotland lighter in the striking department ahead of this month’s pre-World Cup friendlies against Japan and the Ivory Coast due to an injury to Lawrence Shankland, Stewart is making a case for a recall to Clarke’s squad. Almost four years on from his last appearance against the Republic of Ireland in the Nations League, he recently admitted a national team call-up is on the agenda, but the 6ft 5in hitman admits he is first concentrating on staying fit and erasing the bad memories of recent times, one goal at a time.

"We missed a few (chances) but we were creating,” said Stewart. “We kept plugging away and we were solid at the back which gave us a platform. When you keep clean sheets you only have to score one and we did that and timed it well that we didn't have to see it out for too long. I haven’t got the fondest of memories from that day [his last visit to Craven Cottage]. So it was good to come back and freshen up the memories with some good ones. It's good to move on."

Sign up to The Scotsman’s daily football newsletter to get unrivalled Scottish football news and analysis - subscribe for free here.