Southampton ace Shane Long gets Premier League nomination

Long, 32, bagged four goals in five games last month to help maintain Saints’ top-flight status for another season.

This run of form includes his record-breaking goal against Watford.

The Republic of Ireland international had the ball in the back of Ben Foster’s net after just 7.69 seconds, becoming the Premier League’s quickest ever goal.

Long started last month by scoring against Liverpool in the ninth minute to give Saints the lead, only for the visitors to win 3-1.

His goal against the Reds was a personal milestone, with it being the 50th of his Premier League career.

This led to him being only the fourth Irishman to achieve the feat after Niall Quinn, Damian Duff and Robbie Keane.

Long was again on the scoresheet just a week later when he came on as a substitute against Wolves to take the game out of their reach.

He was on the bench again for the trip to Newcastle and couldn’t manage to find the back of the net when he eventually came on in the 76th minute.

However, the striker didn’t have to wait long to net his third goal of the month at Vicarage Road.

And to cap off a remarkable month, Long scored the opener in the thrilling 3-3 draw with Bournemouth last Saturday.

The Saints frontman was nominated for April’s Player of the Month alongside Liverpool duo Jordan Henderson and Mohamed Salah.

Also on the list is Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte, Newcastle’s Ayoze Perez, Leicester’s Jamie Vardy and Burnley’s Chris Wood.

Long joins fellow Saints James Ward-Prowse in being nominated for a Player of the Month award this season.

Ward-Prowse received the nod for January and March, although he was unable to win on either occasion.

Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl also found himself on the shortlist for the Premier League's Manager of the Month award at the beginning of the year.

The Austrian, who ensured the club's top-flight safety last weekend, lost out to Manchester United's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer back in January.