West Bromwich Albion boss Roy Hodgson is delighted Shane Long already has two goals from his first two games with the Baggies.
Long was plucked from Cork City's youth system as an 18-year-old by Reading six years ago - and hasn't looked back since.
He enjoyed his most prolific season in English football last term, finishing as joint-second top scorer in the Championship with 25 goals.
And he can now reflect on strikes against last season's top two in his first couple of top-flight outings for the Baggies.
Hodgson told the WBA website: "I think Shane Long is a player who was ripe for the move from the Championship to the Premier League.
"He's shown his credentials and his maturity, if you like, at a young age.
"Reading were very sad to lose him. And I can fully understand that.
"I thought it was the right moment for him to move and I rather hope that West Brom will be the platform for him to show what he can do.
"If he continues to improve and make the same, almost semi-meteoric rise he's had since coming from Ireland to Reading; if he carries on like that, in two or three years' time, I wouldn't be surprised if bigger clubs than ours are knocking on our door.
"In the meantime, I'm happy to get a lot of good use out of him this season and now that Peter Odemwingie's fit, I think those two will cause quite a few problems for opposition defences.
"They won't be comfortable playing against those two."
