Tony Mowbray hopes star striker Ross Stewart will follow Sunderland skipper Corry Evans by committing himmself to the club 'in the near future'. Evans, whose contract was due to expire at the end of the season, this week signed a new one-year deal with the Wearsiders, with the option of a further 12 month extension after that.
Negotiations have been ongoing with Stewart for months and they are continuing, with a view to signing the 26-year-old up to a new long-term deal. Contract talks are the domain of sporting director Kristjaan Speakman rather than the head coach, but there is no doubt that Mowbray wants the Scotland international to stay.
"We all hope so," said Mowbray. "It's not something I can really comment on because I don't get involved in it but again the coaching staff have let everybody know how important it is.
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"But I think everybody knows how important Ross is for this football club and we hope there's positive news to come out of that as well. I have nothing to report at the moment, but Ross is a big personality in the dressing room as well as a huge player on the pitch for the team.
"We'd all hope something could be sorted and announced in the near future."
The pair are currently both out injured for the remainder of the season, with Stewart suffering a ruptured Achilles and Evans a cruciate ligament problem. But they had surgery earlier this month and will shortly begin their rehab work at the Academy of Light.
Mowbray said: "Ross has been around. He's good to be around, he's a really positive guy. It's important to come and do rehabilitation in the training ground and be around all the lads.
"He's an important figure in the dressing room so, while he might have a big plaster on his leg, he's still got an opinion on what's right and wrong and what we should and shouldn't be doing. They're really important to have around the building."
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