Tisdale says Stewart's experience and influence is important

Exeter City boss Paul Tisdale says he brought veteran striker Marcus Stewart to the club for the influence he can have over the rest of his squad.

Former Ipswich and Sunderland forward Stewart, 35, signed on a free transfer from Yeovil Town on Monday.

"A large part of his remit with us will be to add value," Tisdale told BBC Radio Devon.

"That doesn't mean necessarily just the 90 minutes that we play on a Saturday afternoon, it's Monday to Friday."

Tisdale added: "If he can add 5% to all the players around him on the field in the same way that Rob Edwards has done in the defensive role that he's had, then it's more than just the value of his own performance that we're talking about."

The Grecians boss also confirmed that Stewart will play a part in Wednesday's friendly with Portsmouth at St James Park, provided he is fit.

"It's our first competitive game back at the Park since our promotion, so I'm hoping people are going to come and watch that game," Tisdale said.

"We're playing against a Premiership team so people can come and watch Premiership players and international players play and see how well we do against those players.

"I'm pretty optimistic we'll put on a good show."