Stewart's remarkable rise from Scottish juniors to World Cup

As blood spurted from his shattered nose and taunts rained down from the ramshackle terraces, Ross Stewart felt his love of football reignited.

Having been discarded by professional clubs, the striker's confidence was not the only thing that took a battering as he turned to the junior game to rescue his fledgling career.

It proved the making of Stewart, who was then a raw and gangly 18-year-old and now, a decade later, is a prolific forward whose goals for promotion-chasing Southampton have thrust him into the Scotland World Cup squad.

It's been an unconventional route to prominence for the Ayrshireman, who turned out for local junior clubs Ardeer Thistle and Kilwinning Rangers after several unsuccessful years in the pro-youth system with St Mirren, Celtic and latterly Partick Thistle.

"It has served me well," Stewart told BBC Scotland back in 2022. "When I went and played juniors, being in an adult environment, I really took to it and fell back in love with football, the camaraderie and the banter.

"You're not treated like a youth player, you're treated like an adult. I was playing well and scoring goals and just worked my way up the junior leagues, then got my chance to go back to the senior set-up."

The 'juniors' is something of a misnomer. It is semi-professional football - with its own governing body separate from the Scottish FA - where players can range from promising teens to former internationals in their 40s.

The fiercely competitive and unforgiving environment is no place for shrinking violets, as Stewart can attest. He still has the scars to prove it.

"The one I always think back to is when we played Pollok, who have a big junior ground," adds Stewart.

"I broke my nose that day. I can just remember being sparked out and getting called all the names under the sun. There's no remorse for any type of injury at that level - you've just got to get up and get on with it.

"I tried to turn inside someone and I got a shoulder straight to the nose. There was blood everywhere, my nose was pointing sideways, and you're getting called a 'diving you-know-what' and all that."

His decision to drop down the levels paid off when Stewart's eye-catching form earned him a move to the SPFL with third-tier Albion Rovers - but the deal came with a unique twist.

Kilwinning wanted £1,500 for their prize asset, but Rovers could only pay £1,000. Enter Stewart's dad, Cameron, to make up the difference.

It has proved a savvy investment that has soared in value since, as the forward progressed to St Mirren, Ross County, Sunderland and then Southampton.

"Dad says me living out my dreams is enough for him, but I've probably paid him back in terms of complimentary tickets to watch my games now," says Stewart.

"I've got a lot to thank him for. He played junior football too in his younger days, as a sweeper.

"So it means we have contrasting opinions on the game a lot of the time. He always gives it: 'You'd have hated playing against me'."

It has been over five years since Stewart swapped a survival battle in the Scottish Premiership with Ross County for the task of trying to get ailing giant Sunderland out of League One.

A barrage of his goals fuelled their promotion to the Championship, turning him into a cult hero among a support who nicknamed him 'The Loch Ness Drogba'.

However, a hellish period of injury trouble has plagued much of his time at Southampton since joining in 2023.

But the 29-year-old has shown resilience in spades to recover and score vital goals towards the Saints' push for immediate promotion back to the Premier League.

Stewart has netted nine times since January, including one against Arsenal in an FA Cup quarter-final win last month and another in Southampton's play-off semi-final second-leg victory over Middlesbrough last week.

"From January onwards, he's had a rich vein of form where he's shown that he can score big goals in big games," Scotland boss Steve Clarke said of Stewart, who has been capped twice but not since 2022.

"It's a good story. He was in my squad a few years ago, showing he can come up to this level. He's had a terrible run of injury.

"The Arsenal game in the cup, he shows he can have an impact in games of that level. The World Cup will be a very high level as well."

The striker will have the opportunity to write a new chapter in a storybook rise at Wembley on Saturday when his club season concludes with a Championship play-off final encounter against Hull City.

And his status would only elevate further if his scoring form is replicated for Scotland in their first World Cup appearance in 28 years, capping off a remarkable journey a decade in the making.