Long shortens odds of glory

IT’S the ideal way to bounce into an important international week: by scoring your third goal for your new team and heading off with words of praise from your club manager ringing in your ears.

“I don’t think we paid a lot for potential,” said Roy Hodgson of Shane Long after West Brom’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland on Saturday, the manager going on to dispute the price, if not the value, of the €7 million the Premiership side reportedly paid for the Reading striker. “The figures quoted are wrong, I am not saying how much it was but I have seen the quotes. He might be the bargain of the year, as it turns out.”

Long has certainly hit the ground running at West Brom and says he’s enjoying playing for “a passing-orientated manager” at a club where history can hang heavy on the shoulders of a front man. “As I found out when I was given the number nine shirt,” he smiles. “There’s a lot of pressure but it’s good pressure for me. It pushes me to be on top of my game.”