The doubters are Greg’s motivation
Greg Stewart would never consider himself irreplaceable. But the Dundee star can still recall the day cynics doubted he could even cut it at the highest level.
the in-demand Dens Park striker saw his stock rise further with a hat-trick in Saturday’s Betfred Cup destruction of Dumbarton which brought the most lavish praise from manager Paul Hartley.
Stewart showed his true worth to the Dark Blues in this group a clash with a second-half display described by Hartley as ‘sublime’ before admitting the club had little hope of ever replacing their prized asset should he move onto pastures new.
the 26-year-old is now in the final year of his contract having shone since the day he arrived on tayside after being plucked from minnows Cowdenbeath where he first caught the eye two years ago.
In more recent times, Stewart has been linked with rangers, aberdeen and english outfit Leeds United but can remember when doubters felt he would struggle to make an impact in the Scottish top flight as opposed to becoming a stand-out performer.
‘I’m not sure about being irreplaceable. that’s not for me to say,’ said Stewart.
‘But I was probably one of the boys who wasn’t expected to do all that well coming from Cowdenbeath where I was part-time back then.
‘Still, I’ve done what I’ve done at this level and just kept it going as well as I can. You never know in football. It’s a funny old game and things can happen.
‘there are definitely a lot of top players in the lower leagues who could move up to the Premiership.
‘when you get that chance, you’ve just got to take it with both hands.
‘I always just do my best. It’s difficult to say if that was my best performance in a Dundee jersey.
‘Put it this way, though, we played some good stuff in the second half compared to the first 45 minutes and that was the difference in the end.’
Dundee have slapped a £1.5million price tag on Stewart’s head as they try and avoid the worst-case scenario of losing their talisman for free next summer.
But judging by Stewart’s exploits at the weekend, he seemed like the last man who was feeling any kind of pressure with the manner in which he lit up this encounter.
Stewart is remaining relaxed about his own future and is the first to admit that nobody has bigger overall expectations than himself.
‘I always put pressure on myself to do my best,’ he said. ‘after the first season I had, people questioned me last term whether I could do it again.
‘But I proved them wrong. to be honest, I just want to keep proving people wrong. I just want to try and ignore all the speculation.
‘I want to do my best for Dundee and I’ve still got another year left on my contract.
‘as long as I’m here, I’ll give 100 per cent in every game I play. that’s just the way it is when you’re a player.
‘In football, things can change and I think we all know that, but as long as I’m a Dundee player I’ll be giving everything for the team.’
Dundee trailed 2-1 at half-time to goals from Dumbarton duo Frazer wright and gregor Buchanan after Stewart had given the hosts an early lead.
However, the Dens striker revealed how a few home truths at the break fired up the hosts to turn things round and propel themselves into second spot in their group, courtesy of further goals from team-mates Kane Hemmings (two) and skipper Darren O’Dea.
‘It was convincing in the end,’ he said. ‘Personally, I was a bit sloppy in the first half, rusty to be honest.
‘I was injured. I was out for two weeks. stemming from a thigh injury I picked up in austria at our pre-season base.
‘It wasn’t good enough from myself in the first half and, for the team as a whole, that was the case, too.
‘a few words were said at half-time and we sorted it out.
‘that’s it finished with now and we can start to focus on tuesday night’s game up in Peterhead.’