Ex-Sunderland player and pundit details how injured star's recovery will help Tony Mowbray

That is a good sign that he is getting closer to being back out running on the pitch. It means he is injury is now allowing him to make that running motion which is always a goal when coming back from a muscle strain.

It can’t come quick enough for the team in my opinion. Stewart is not only a very good footballer and a goal scorer but he is also a big physical presence on the pitch. If you look at the Sunderland squad there are a lot of players between five foot six and five foot ten.

I know the style in what Sunderland play is probably down to having a lot of players of this ilk but sometimes for set pieces for and against having a bit more size can help in both boxes.

It can also occupy defenders a bit more which will free up more areas for the likes of Patrick Roberts, Alex Pritchard and Jack Clarke to find space. I felt in both the Blackburn and Burnley games Sunderland were physically outmuscled at times and having Dan Ballard, Stewart and Ellis Simms back involved will definitely help rectify this.

Hopefully, it won’t be long till these are back in action. It will also take a bit of the onus away from Danny Batth as I feel he is Sunderland’s main threat in attacking set pieces. He is also the main aggressor defending them. He can’t mark everyone and this sometimes causes mismatches to the detriment of the team as a whole.