SHANE Long has revealed that once he got his Saints chance he was never “going to let it go”.

Long, who was recently voted Daily Echo Player of the Season, started the campaign on the fringes of Ronald Koeman’s side, but finished it as a key man.

“It’s always tough when you have the players we have in our team,” he said. “It’s very difficult to stand out when you have eleven world-class players in the team.

“I was just waiting for my chance to come and when it did, I wasn’t going to let it go.

“I’ve really enjoyed this season and we all just seem to gel well. We’ve got great results, despite leaving a few points out there, but I suppose there is always room for improvement.”

The Republic of Ireland international hit double figures in the Premier League for the first time in his career and netted 13 times in all competitions in an excellent season.

The 29-year-old helped Saints, with his unrivalled work-rate and endeavour, to their best-ever points tally in the Premier League for a second successive season.

“I broke into the starting eleven and stayed there since the end of December,” he explained. “We just hit form at a good time.

“To get our record amount of points is great. We always knew we were a good enough team and we just kept believing in the way we played.”

The former Reading, West Bromwich Albion and Hull City striker feels that there is some food for thought ahead of another hotly-anticipated campaign next season.

There is a school of thought that had Saints not dropped points in a few matches – especially at home to Aston Villa and Sunderland and away at Norwich – then a Champions League would have been in reach, especially with some of the traditional big guns stuttering.

“There were some games that you feel we could have picked up more points,” he said. “A few more points and we could have been right up there. That’s something we can look at for next season.

“We need to be getting all the points against the so-called lesser teams.”

Long joins an elite group of Saints players that includes the likes Mick Channon, Matthew Le Tissier, Peter Shilton, Rickie Lambert and Jose Fonte, as the Daily Echo’s Player of the Season.

He received 44 per cent of the vote, beating Virgil van Dijk in second and Steven Davis in third.

“It’s amazing for all the fans to have voted for me for an award,” he smiled. “They can obviously pick anyone, so it’s always a great honour.

“It’s a good sign that they can relate to the way I play.”