Shane Long has been recognised by the Premier League by being named in the list of contenders for April Player of the month.

Shane Long has often been criticised by Saints supporters who can not see beyond his goals tally when assessing his worth for the team.

But the Irishman has found a new lease of life since the arrival of Ralph Hasenhuttl and it seems that the Austrian's style of play suits Long down to the ground.

Long arrived at the same time as Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle to the club and he was often overshadowed by their achievements

But it should be noted that overall in the two seasons that the three played together Mane scored 22 goals, Pelle 23 and Long 15, in the last season together Long scored only one less than the pair each managed.

But Long's worth to the team has always been more about goals, it is about the work he does off the ball and in moves that don't show on the statistics, Long has always been about being the target and holding the ball up and drawing fouls, of chasing down defenders, closing them down and keeping the ball in the opponents final third of the field.

On many occasions I have seen Long's persistence win the ball and three passes later the ball is in the net, but few have given him the recognition that he deserves they judge him on how many goals he has scored.

Since the departure of Mane and Pelle he has often had to be the "goalscorer" in the team and that is just not his game, he is not a prolific scorer, but he has an eye for a ital goal or two.

But as I say his contribution to the team is far more than goals and after the injury to Danny Ings wiped out a big part of his season Long has stepped up to the plate, at Leicester his persistence gained a penalty and again from his own persistence he scored a great goal from a tight angle, but still some refused to give him credit saying that it was going wide and Schmeichel diverted it into the net, so what you have to put the goalkeeper in that position and Long did just that.

But if he has battled away since with little recognition at the turn of the month Shane Long caught fire, in the five games we have played in April he scored a goal in four of them including what is now the fastest ever goal in Premier League history.

His goals an general all round play have made it a good April for us where yes it could have been much better but for some poor defending, but Long's contribution and goals have got us over the safety line and that is all that matters.

You can now appreciate his contribution to the club not just in April but over the five years he has been here by voting for him using the link at the bottom of the page.

It will be a tough ask for him to win this award, traditionally the voting is dominated by the Big Six clubs who have the fanbase to be able to swing the vote purely on a club basis rather than the actual merits of the nominee's contribution.

The full list is

Jordan Henderson (LIV)
P4 W4 D0 L0 G1 A3
Liverpool's captain led by example, scoring or assisting in three of his side’s four matches as the title-chasers kept the pressure on Manchester City with a perfect April.

Aymeric Laporte (MCI)
P5 W5 D0 L0 G0 A1 CS4
The defender played every minute as the leaders secured a 100 per cent record in a month in which they faced Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. City conceded only once and kept four clean sheets with Laporte also getting an assist against Cardiff City.

Shane Long (SOU)
P5 W1 D2 L2 G4 A0
Long scored in three consecutive home matches and netted the fastest goal in Premier League history after only 7.69 seconds of Southampton's draw at Watford.

Ayoze Perez (NEW)
P5 W2 D1 L2 G5 A0
Three of the Spaniard's league-leading five goals in April came in one match against Southampton as Newcastle United took one step closer to securing safety from relegation.

Mohamed Salah (LIV)
P4 W4 D0 L0 G4 A1
The Egyptian ended April with two goals and an assist against Huddersfield Town to go ahead in the race for the Golden Boot. His wonder strike versus Chelsea is also nominated for Carling Goal of the Month.

Jamie Vardy (LEI)
P4 W2 D1 L1 G5 A0
Vardy has been in inspired form under new manager Brendan Rodgers. The Englishman scored in all but one of his appearances, including a brace against Arsenal, to move up to 18 goals this season.

Chris Wood (BUR)
P4 W2 D1 L1 G3 A2
Wood was involved in five of his side's seven goals in the month as Burnley ensured a fourth successive season of Premier League football at Turf Moor.

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Photo: Action Images

darthvader added 10:27 - May 1 I just voted for our Shane.
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TimSaint added 11:45 - May 1 Long should win it for the fastest ever Prem goal. The reality is that if Perez doesn't win it, the media Liverpool w@nkfest will continue and demand that Ignis given to Salah.
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underweststand added 12:21 - May 1 Maybe this is another tribute to * a manager who knows how to handle players properly. Few would have thought that Long (of all people) would end up being nominated when his previous scoring efforts were stretched out over several seasons, and we had midfielders who scored more than he did. Whatever Ralph has said /done for Shane he has certainly hit form just now. The one thing I find extraordinary is that when he does score - he makes it look so easy, a side-foot, volley or toe-poke and he finds the net. * I recall Lawrie McMenemy's axiom om handling players (his man-management style), he once said; Footballers are just people and you need to kiss some, and kick the others. Looking at Ralph's "half-season successes" (Redmond, JWP, Bednarek, Valery, Gunn and Sims are first that come to mind - it seems that Ralph has also found a formula to get the best out of the squad.

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highfield49 added 13:11 - May 1 Yup, you're right TimSaint although I'd think the exceptionally obnoxious Henderson is the front runner.
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SaintGeorge added 15:00 - May 1 I hate it when someone who was total gash at something gets rewarded for being slightly less shïte for once.
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LoisDeem added 11:59 - May 2 Managers, players and many pundits like Shane Long, even without goals. Quite a lot of fans do too, and I count myself among this number.
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