Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy has revealed his delight with Shane Long’s recent run of goalscoring form and is happy to see the striker back playing regularly for Southampton.
The 32-year-old has helped Saints avoid relegation from the Premier League this season, with his strikes against Bournemouth, Watford and Wolves all helping to earn crucial points for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side
Long has scored four goals in his last five league outings after managing just one in his first 19 games this season, and Republic of Ireland manager McCarthy praised the striker’s recent goalscoring record but revealed he is equally happy to see the forward back in the side following his injury, the Daily Echo report.
The Ireland fans used to sing that Shane Long was on fire, well he is now so they can get the song ready again. I am delighted to see him scoring but just as happy that Shane is back in the Southampton team on a regular basis.
It’s his fitness as much as his goalscoring that pleases me because I know he was frustrated when that injury forced him to return home after just a couple of days with us in March. Shane is a really effective centre-forward. These goals will just give him a real lift and boost his confidence coming back into our squad and that can only be good news with the training camp in Portugal and two big games on the horizon.
McCarthy’s Ireland will be looking to extend their winning start to Euro 2020 qualification in June when they face Denmark and Gibraltar, having already beaten the latter in their second game of qualification last month.
