Long intends to stay at West Brom

Not going anywhere

West Brom striker Shane Long has suggested that he wants to stay put at the Hawthorns and fight for his position next season. The Republic of Ireland striker scored 8 goals in the Premier League this season but has been largely overshadowed by Romelu Lukaku. The former Reading striker says he will speak with boss Steve Clarke about his situation, but he has no immediate plans to look for a move.

“I’m very happy there. The new manager has come in this year and he has really built a team that’s very competitive in the Premier League,” Long said.

“There are a few lads up in the air about contracts and it will be interesting to see what happens over the summer. I fully intend to stay, I do like it there, but we will talk, probably in pre-season, about contract situations and see what happens.”

But Lukaku is likely to return to Chelsea or maybe loaned out to club playing in Europe. The Belgian has insisted that playing regular football is the priority and another loan switch looks more likely, but this time he might look to join a club playing European football.

“I have a year and an option, so probably two. I have still got two years left at West Brom, and that’s what I am focusing on at the moment. I was doing well during a lot of season and the manager said to me at the end of the season he was very happy with how I had done.

“It was just with the build-up of games, he chose to rest me for one game and Romelu came in and scored a hat-trick, and it’s hard to drop him again.”

Towards the end of the season, Steve Clarke preferred one striker up front and with Lukaku showing great form, Long was left on the bench.

“We understood our roles. We shared the load up front. More than likely, we went with one striker and it was either me or him.

“Towards the end of season, he started more and he scored a lot of goals. He’s a fine player, so I just bided my time and when I did get my chance, I made sure I took it.

“A few times, I had scored one or two on the bounce and been rested for the third game, and that little flow of games could help over the season. I am still learning, I am still only 26. It’s one of my best returns in the Premier League, last year, so hopefully I can build on that again this year.”