Wycombe Wanderers boss Gareth Ainsworth probably couldn’t believe his luck.
Ross Stewart, Sunderland’s 25-goal talisman and one of the most lethal hitmen in the whole of the EFL, had just missed a sitter at Wembley, guiding a guilt-edge chance wide of the mark when it looked easier to score.
Wycombe’s good fortune wouldn’t last for long, however. 25 minutes, to be exact.
As Stewart set his sights just outside the penalty area, shifting the ball onto his favoured right boot, he was in no mood to let Sunderland’s play-off final opponents off the hook for a second time.
A 26th goal of the season. His second in the play-off campaign alone, rattled into the bottom corner with trademark precision.
“(Stewart) is unbelievable,” awe-struck team-mate Alex Pritchard tells The Chronicle, the sweet smell of champagne still hanging in the air.
“The size of him… he can run, he can hold the ball up, he’s good with his feet. He’s got everything. He’s great in the air. Holds the ball up and he gets in behind and you see in the semi-finals (against Sheffield Wednesday) the goal he got in behind.
“He’s so quick. And he’s been a revelation this year for us.”
Ross Stewart fires Sunderland to promotion
You can say that again.
When the Black Cats lost star man Charlie Wyke to Wigan Athletic last summer, even the most glass-half-full Sunderland supporters must have wondered how on earth the club would succeed in replacing the seemingly irreplaceable.
But while Stewart hasn’t scored quite so many goals as Wyke did – a staggering 31 in 2020/21 – his all-round game is vastly superior to a man who’s work outside the penalty area often left a lot to be desired.
Stewart’s laser-guided, 79th-minute winner at Wembley not only secured Sunderland’s long-awaited return to the Championship, it also went a long way to silencing the concerns over his own future.
According to the Northern Echo, Rangers had expressed an interest in taking the former Ross County and one-time Celtic youngster ace back north of the border.
Norwich City are big admirers too, with Stewart entering the final 12 months of his contract at the Stadium of Light.
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Another season of third-tier football would have made retaining Stewart’s services – amid interest from clubs higher up the footballing pyramid – almost an impossible challenge for Alex Neil and co.
Promotion, while not enough on it’s own to quell those fears, feels like a major step in the right direction. Not just for Sunderland, but for their hopes of hanging onto their very own ‘Loch Ness Drogba’.
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