TONY Mowbray hasn't ruled out the possibility of Ross Stewart signing a new contract at the Stadium of Light, with the head coach of the belief that Sunderland's supporters could yet have a crucial role to play in convincing the striker to stay.

Stewart's current Sunderland deal expires at the end of this season and despite lengthy negotiations between the club and striker's representatives over the course of the last 12 months, as things stand there's no sign of an agreement being reached.

The 27-year-old hasn't kicked a ball for Sunderland since January when he suffered a serious Achilles injury, but he is closing in on a return to action and could play in a training ground friendly during next month's international break, Mowbray revealed last week.

The next step would be a return to first team action and it's then - when Stewart feels the love of Sunderland's supporters - that the head coach hopes a breakthrough can be reached in contract talks.

He said: "I'm hoping Ross Stewart gets fit and and, whether he signs a contract or doesn't sign a contract, he scores 20 goals between whenever he is fit and the end of the seaso.

"I still believe, somewhere along the line, the supporters have still got a huge part to play with Ross Stewart.

"OK, he's not signed a deal, but if he is scoring goals, enjoying his football, the crowd are singing his name, he's their hero, why wouldn't you sign for a club with 46,000 supporters all singing your name? Ross just wants to be where he is loved and cared for, and there isn't a bigger, better, football club in this league than this one."

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Amid the contract uncertainty, there's been inevitable transfer speculation linking Stewart with a move away this summer but Sunderland haven't received any bids for the striker.

Rangers, Southampton, Stoke and Middlesbrough have all been linked.

If Stewart stays beyond Friday's deadline - which looks likely - but doesn't agree a new deal, Sunderland must decide whether to sell the striker in January or risk losing him for nothing next summer, but earlier this month Mowbray said club chiefs were relaxed about the situation.

He said: “I genuinely don’t think the club are over-stressing on it. What did he cost? It certainly wasn’t millions and millions.

“I don’t think the club are over-stressing. They’re making him offers that they think are special in the context of where our football club is at the moment. We’re not just trying to give him a good contract – we’re trying to make it an incredibly good contract for him in terms of where he is, and our club is, at the moment.

“Hopefully, in a few years’ time, this club will be offering lots and lots more money to their best players because the club will have progressed and either got to the Premier League or be right on the cusp of that. But as the club is building from League One, you have to be careful.

“I think the club are quite comfortable with it. We’re disappointed that he hasn’t got a new three, four or five-year contract under his belt, but we’re just moving forward."