West Bromwich Albion boss Roy Hodgson has hailed football chief Dan Ashworth and his scouting staff for landing Shane Long.

Hodgson says the former Reading striker has to be a contender for bargain of the season.

"There were other clubs that wanted Shane but he chose to come here because, if we believe both Shane and his agent, he wanted to work at this club with myself and the players we have here," Hodgson told the WBA website.

"Shane has scored four goals in ten games for a team that, at this stage, hasn't scored that many times.

"van Persie plays for Arsenal, Aguero and Balotelli for Manchester City and Rooney and Hernandez for Manchester United.

"But we're not operating at that level and it will be a long, long time before this club posts losses of £194million - it certainly won't be in my lifetime! Shane comes into the type of player we think we are able to attract and afford.

"And it's very, very important that our recruitment is as fantastic as it is. Dan does quite an incredible job in liaising with the scouts and making sure they know what the thoughts of the coaching staff are and coming up with names and researching them.

"There aren't many clubs in the country who work harder than West Bromwich Albion in terms of watching matches and researching games. And I'm not just talking about games in England. I'm talking worldwide. The result is that Dan can turn up the Peter Odemwingies and Youssouf Mulumbus.

"Every now and again, we turn up a Shane Long, which probably isn't as big a surprise as the other two names I've mentioned because he was playing in this country.

"But, at the same time, we saw in Shane the player that I think he is, because it's easier to list his qualities than his faults."