Shane Long will tonight aim to end his 273 day goal drought in a bid to book a place at next summer’s World Cup.

The Saints striker is hoping to start for the Republic of Ireland in the first leg of their play-off game against Denmark in Copenhagen as they bid to make it to Russia.

Long is desperate to get back to goalscoring ways and also to have the chance to play in a first World Cup finals.

Ireland boss Martin O’Neill has a straight choice between Long and Nottingham Forest’s Daryl Murphy for the striking berth in his side with Jon Walters still making his way back from injury.

While Long would seem the obvious choice, his barren run in front of goal could count against him.

Long hasn’t scored since February 11, when he netted in Saints’ win at Sunderland.

It has been 27 appearances since his last goal, taking in 1,353 minutes.

Saints would dearly love for their 30-year-old striker to get a goal and a welcome confidence boost over the course of the tie, whose second leg takes place on Tuesday in Dublin, before returning for a crucial run of Premier League fixtures.

Some good news for Ireland is that Jeff Hendrick should be fit after getting injured against Saints.

The 25-year-old Burnley midfielder was able to train with the rest of his teammates after previously working with the Football Association of Ireland's medical team as he attempted to shake off a gluteal muscle injury.

He was joined on the training pitch by club-mate Stephen Ward, with the full-back having been rested as a precaution earlier in the week.

An FAI spokesman said: "Both Stephen Ward and Jeff Hendrick, who had undergone specialised training sessions with FAI medical staff in previous days, came through the session without any problems."

Hendrick's presence among the travelling party was all the more welcome because of the absence of David Meyler through suspension for the first leg and James McCarthy with a hamstring problem.

O'Neill's men go into the first leg full of confidence after back-to-back wins over Moldova and the Welsh last month, but knowing their job is far from done.

Denmark sit in 19th position in FIFA's world rankings, seven places better off than the Republic, but were the lowest-ranked of the seeds for the draw which saw Ireland avoid a showdown with either Switzerland, Italy or Croatia.

However, they need to ensure they are still very much in the tie when they leave the Parken Stadium.

Ireland have previously played in eight play-off ties and have won only three of them, although it may be of some comfort to O'Neill that two of those victories have come in the last two attempts, the most recent under his charge when they saw off Bosnia & Herzegovina to reach the finals of Euro 2016.