West Bromwich Albion boss Steve Clarke has praised the focus of Shane Long as speculation surrounding his future continues. The Republic of Ireland striker was almost offloaded to Premier League rivals Hull City on the final day of the August transfer window and has found it hard to get a regular run in the Baggies first team since.
"There's been a lot of focus on Shane's contract situation in the media but I look at Shane's performance against Chelsea and I don't think it's upsetting him too much," Clarke told the club's website. "His performance levels are good.
"He needs to concentrate on keeping those performance levels and the future will take care of itself. I've said all along that Shane will play a big part for us this season.
"That one game against Chelsea doesn't make it a big part, but it's a start. It shows what he can do for us.
"He had an interrupted start to this season and again he's just been away for an international break. But at least he got a chance to come off the bench and score another goal, and started on Tuesday.
"He's got back to back goals and hopefully he can get another goal when he next plays."
