SHANE Long is Saints’ most clinical striker in Premier League action this season.

The Republic of Ireland international scored his fifth goal of the league campaign in midweek to set Saints on their way to a crucial victory over Watford at St Mary’s.

Preferred instead of fit-again top scorer Graziano Pelle, Long settled any Saints’ nerves by heading in Matt Targett’s 17th minute cross.

The forward will be hoping for an early birthday present today by keeping his starting spot against former club West Bromwich Albion.

And the stats certainly underline why Long, who celebrates his 29th birthday next Friday, deserves to keep his place.

He is averaging a goal every 6.2 Premier League efforts in 2015/16 – five goals from 31 attempts.

That is far better than Pelle, who is averaging a goal every 8.66 efforts.

Dusan Tadic (8.25 efforts per goal) has been more clinical than Pelle in league action.

And all three of the aforementioned Saints have been more deadly than Sadio Mane.

The Senegalese wasted a handful of good chances against Watford, and is now averaging a goal every 18.3 efforts.

Long’s goal against Watford was his eighth for Saints in all competitions this term from 10 starts plus nine off the bench. That is more than he managed in the whole of last season, his first at St Mary’s since a huge £12m move from Hull in August 2014.

Long only netted seven league and cup goals in 39 club matches last term – 18 of which came off the bench.

In all, he has 10 goals for club and country this season – having also scored twice for the Republic in their successful Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.

At his present rate, Long is on target to beat his best Premier League goals haul of eight.

They were scored for West Brom in 2012/13, including one in the Baggies’ 3-0 victory at St Mary’s.

West Brom had swooped to sign Long for £6.5m in the summer of 2011 after the striker’s best goalscoring season of his career. Long belted 28 goals for club and country in 2010/11, including 23 in the Championship for Reading as the Royals lost in the play-off final.

Long first played in the Premier League for Reading in 2006/07, scoring just twice in the league.

He netted three more goals the following season, including one in a 7-4 loss to Portsmouth.

The Baggies made a slight profit on Long when they sold him to Hull in the January 2014 transfer window. The player was only on Humberside for a few months, netting four top flight goals in 15 games, before moving back south to sign for Saints following Hull’s relegation.