YAN Valery plays up the importance of Shane Long to Saints’ squad and exclaims: “Seriously, he is like the best. He’s always there encouraging and giving us ways to get better.”
Yan Valery said: “Seriously, he is actually like the best. Even without the gametime, he is always there encouraging, giving us some help, giving us some ways to get better. And then even today on the pitch, after not having any gametime this season, you can tell that he was fighting until the end, winning all the heading, he was just superb for us and he’s the best.”
Based on what has been exhibited in recent appearances, with no Premier League notch since February 2020 and just two Championship strikes since then in a stint with Bournemouth, it is no surprise that a few supporters grimaced when seeing Hasenhuttl’s makeshift lineup.
Yan Valery added: “He did superbly. Like I said he was winning the balls in front, we needed him there. He was so strong against the centre-backs, I’m sure if you ask the Tottenham centre-backs they can tell you it was a really hard game against him, so yeah he did it superbly against them.”
Long’s Saints contract is due to expire at the end of this campaign and it is unlikely a new deal will be on the horizon. However, Hasenhuttl recently confirmed that he believes no player wants to leave Saints during the January window so it looks like Long may remain as a back-up until the conclusion of his deal.
