Shane Long: “Koeman trusts me”

Shane Long believes that he may have aggravated Saints boss Ronald Koeman after featuring for the Republic of Ireland, but believes he still has faith in him.

Long, who hadn’t played for the Saints in nearly six weeks, played in the second leg of the crucial Euro 2016 play-off win against Bosnia, despite recovering from an ankle injury.

The forward made his return to St Mary’s on Saturday, playing the full 90 minutes, but Saints boss Koeman did not expect Long to contribute to the Republic of Ireland’s qualification success.

The Dutchman admitted that he was surprised by Ireland’s decision to include Long after only one training session, but the player himself was more than happy to play.

“I was surprised myself to be involved after five or six weeks out,” he said.

“I’m sure the gaffer was annoyed because after six weeks out — it’s not what you want one of your players to be doing.

“But I think he knows me well enough. I’ve been in the game long enough to know when I’m able to play.”

Long expressed his disappointment with Southampton’s 1-0 defeat to Stoke on Saturday at St Mary’s, but didn’t put the loss down to tiredness.

“The management are good at getting us in on the Thursday and doing a short sharp session with the lads that have played on the Tuesday and getting them in and getting them recovered,” he said.

“The break of the ball didn’t go for us, the decisions didn’t go for us sometimes that happens.”

A number of injuries has made Long the likely player to lead the line for Saints as they face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Graziano Pelle is serving a one game ban after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Stoke. Jay Rodriguez is also absent, so Long will be the obvious choice to lead the line.

Although Sadio Mane is an option, Koeman may prefer to play him in a deeper position off Long.