MARCUS Stewart is helping to revive Sunderland's fortunes and in doing so has boosted Ipswich Town's coffers by a further £125,000, writes Derek Davis.

MARCUS Stewart is helping to revive Sunderland's fortunes and in doing so has boosted Ipswich Town's coffers by a further £125,000, writes Derek Davis.

The charismatic striker made his 40th Black Cats appearance in their goalless draw at home to Rotherham on Tuesday night, triggering the final bonus payment for Town as part of his £1.25m move to the Stadium of Light from Ipswich in August 2002. The 30-year-old has made 27 starts and 13 appearances as a substitute, scoring 11 goals in his time at the Stadium of Light to date, the last of them the winner against Walsall on Saturday.

While Town pushed up a place to fifth, and within a point of fourth-placed Sunderland, Mick McCarthy's side's draw means they have lost only one of their last 12 league games.

Stewart suffered relegation for the second year running when Sunderland went down last season and he was having a tough time at the Stadium of Light under Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson until Mick McCarthy took over and revitalised his career.

A popular figure at Portman Road, Stewart played a huge part in Town winning promotion and then hammered in 19 Premiership goals as they finished fifth and qualified for Europe in 2001.

The money they have got for him has helped Town financially and he may once again be helping the Blues if this final instalment can be used to help Joe Royle strengthen his current squad.

Not that Royle is in a rush to use the cash injection.

He said: "It is a welcome addition to the war chest when we need to use it. We have used three of our eight loan player options up so far but there is no urgency just yet. We have got Alan Mahon to come back. He is a lot better though he is still a bit off being fit. He should be back sooner than we first thought."