Southampton striker Shane Long admits he is lacking confidence right now

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Southampton striker Shane Long admitted in an interview with The Irish Independent after his side’s 2-0 win against Fulham on Wednesday night that he is lacking confidence right now, but he needs to get it back as soon as possible to help his team out.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the Republic of Ireland international replaced Charlie Austin in the 64th minute of the clash at St Mary’s, and while it was his 18th Premier League appearance of the season, just seven of those have been starts.

His place in the pecking order was perhaps shown against Arsenal on Sunday when he missed out on a spot in the 18-man squad even though Danny Ings is currently injured, although a hamstring issue that will keep Michael Obafemi out for the rest of the campaign gave him a reprieve against the Cottagers.

The 32-year-old, who went close with an effort from a narrow angle, told The Irish Independent: “I’m trying to train hard and improve things that aren’t going right but I think a lot of it is down to confidence. I’ve got to believe in myself first of all and then others will believe in me.”

How can he get it back?

Obviously one of the main things is getting more goals.

Long has only scored three times in 55 games in all competitions for the south coast outfit since the beginning of the 2017/18 season, and as a striker that is clearly a woeful record.

The Irishman needs one or two to get into a rhythm, and he also needs to get back to doing what he is best at on the pitch – chasing down and harrying defenders to force them into mistakes.

That is something that has been lacking recently and the kind of thing that can get the supporters fully behind him, and he needs to step up for the team sooner rather than later in their battle against the drop.