He felt picked on for his size as a teenager Greg Stewart believes his SPFL Premiership player of the month award has helped him prove those who dismissed him wrong.

As he collected his prize yesterday in his hometown of Stirling, the Dundee striker was particularly scathing about the reasoning offered by the Hearts football director who told him he was not going to make it.

"It was the year the boys were going on to full-time and it was John Murray, he just said to me I'm not wanting to keep you, you're too small," said the 24-year-old.

"To me it's a poor excuse if you're too small. I don't think there's such a thing. If you're a good footballer you're a good footballer, so it did obviously set me back a wee bit and make me think, well, it's never really going to happen."

At 5'10" Stewart is far from diminutive by any standards and while he reckons he has taken "a wee stretch" since being given that message as a 15 or 16 year old, he never considered himself small. However he admits his appetite for football was affected, saying: "I lost interest in the game a wee bit for a year."

A subsequent return to amateur football with Grangemouth club Syngenta sorted that out.

"I started enjoying playing football again and luckily enough I got picked up to go to Cowdenbeath and Jimmy Nichol signed me there and I had four years there, then Paul (Hartley, Dundee's manager) took a chance on me in the summer," Stewart explained.

Clearly he has mixed feelings about what happened because while he expresses understanding for the type of decision those in Murray's position must make, it also continues to fire him up.

"When I got the chance again I always thought I wanted to go and prove people wrong," said Stewart.

"Even now you still get people doubting you and that's what you enjoy, proving people wrong on the pitch.

"It's just one of those things isn't it. If I saw him (Murray) and we started talking I would speak to him. It's just one of those things, it's his job as well as a coach, you just either take a chance on someone or you don't."

Having also signed a contract extension in January Stewart's life is now very different from that of the part-time footballer he was a year ago.

"This time last season I was working at Grangemouth oil refinery, getting up at six in the morning for work and then going to training on Tuesday and Thursday nights," said Stewart.

"My job was full-time, Monday to Friday and I worked on the high-pressure water jetting.

"I used to get picked up in the works van at half six, have my breakfast at work, do the job, have lunch, go back out, get back home for four and in for half-an-hour for a bite to eat and a wash before training.

"I also have a wee girl Summer so I was getting some grief about never being in the house. It was hectic but I worked with a good bunch of boys there and they are delighted for me.

"They are all hoping I can keep getting goals and making progress. I always dreamed I would make it in football.

"Dundee took a chance on me, signed me on the pre-contract and that was my big break. I have grabbed the opportunity."

Just how well is demonstrated by a glance at the Premiership goal-scoring chart since, following Tony Andreu's move from Hamilton Accies to Norwich, Stewart is now effectively on his own at the top which has meant re-setting his personal targets for the season.

"At the start of the season it was something I never really thought about," he said.

"If I could get into double figures I would obviously have been delighted, but now that I've got here it would be brilliant if I could manage to stay at the top."

While strike partner David Clarkson set the early pace Stewart has been the more prolific of late resulting in a month which could hardly have begun less auspiciously as Dundee suffered a record derby defeat on New Year's Day but also saw them react well.

"I scored five goals in January so it was a good month for me personally and for the club overall," Stewart observed.

"We had the bad start with the derby, losing 6-2 to United, but we then went six unbeaten.

"After the derby I just went home and did nothing (but) that result gave us a wee boot up the backside and all the boys just got together and said we would have to bounce back."

No-one has contributed to that process more as Stewart continues on his mission that if you are good enough you are big enough to play in Scotland's top division.