Shane Long is likely to miss the game against Newcastle United after picking up an injury on International duty for the Republic Of Ireland.

Shane Long looks set to miss out against the Magpies a team he scored against in both games two seasons ago when they were relegated from the Championship, heading a last minute equaliser at St James Park in the opening game of the season and then scoring early on in a 3-1 home win in April 2016 as the Mags headed towards the Championship.

The loss of Long will be a blow to Saints as although he has not scored, he has looked the best man leading the line in Mauricio Pellegrino's lone striker formation.

Saints will not be short of options to replace him with both Manolo Gabbiadini and Charlie Austin in contention for a place in the starting line up.

Photo: Action Images

dirk_doone added 11:33 - Oct 11 That's very bad news for Newcastle.
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SonicBoom added 12:03 - Oct 11 Surely after firing blank after blank after blank. the manager might think that a lone striker isn't working. Doing the same thing over and over and just expecting us to "click" and start scoring goals is naive.
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leighsaint added 14:49 - Oct 11 Dirk D yes we might find someone who knows where the net is or not as we Saints fan don't expect goals do we
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TimSaint added 22:54 - Oct 11 To be fair, Long scored for us both home and away against Newcastle - 2 seasons ago, when they were last in the top flight !! Hope Gab and Charlie get the nod up front, but can't help but think we will take the cautious approach again though - at least until the 60 minute mark.
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underweststand added 08:29 - Oct 12 after all this time, the psychological demands of scoring a goal, must surely outweigh the physical efforts for Shane Long. Everyone's knows his speed and skill, but it's clearly not working when he gets into the box, and he's missed a number of absolute sitters this season. Whilst we always have so much % possession and shots, we are still unable to find the net. Let's see Charlie Austin upfront for a few games and have Shane come off the bench in the last 15 minutes (when fit). We have to start scoring SOON, as the November fixture list is a nightmare where even a 0-0 draw would be a welcome relief.

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bstokesaint added 13:06 - Oct 12 Underwestand, I'm struggling to think of a number of real scoring opportunities, let alone "missed sitters". I don't ever want to see an end to the graft Shane Long puts in. If a few others on the pitch put in as much maybe we would create more.
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