SAINTS boss Russell Martin has no doubt Ross Stewart will offer his support to Gavin Bazunu after his Achilles tendon surgery.

Summer signing Stewart suffered the same injury as Bazunu during his time at Sunderland, keeping him away from football for 10 months.

Bazunu, 22, has been given a similar time frame for recovery after rupturing his Achilles tendon during the warm-up for Southampton's 3-0 win over Preston.

"We have a brilliant sports science and medical department. They'll all be around and they've done this a lot of times before.

"Having people like Ross and Juan, who haven't had the same issue but has had a really tough time with injuries, will help.

"Juan knows Gavin well from a young age. There'll be numerous people in there who have been through something similar and can help him.

"Ross has been through the exact same injury of course. I'm sure there'll be a conversation along the line about where he's at in the stage of rehab.

"Also, because of the guy Ross is, I've got no doubt he'll want to help Gavin and offer his support in that way. I think that could be really important."