Shane Long hailed another “massive” three points for Saints after his match-winning role in the 2-0 win against Leicester.

The forward came off the bench in the second half to score twice and settle what had been a tight encounter at St Mary’s, with the result keeping Ronald Koeman's men second in the table.

The goals were Long’s first in the Premier League since his £12m move from Hull in the summer, while he has now taken his overall total for the club to three.

“Obviously, I’m delighted,” Long told the club’s website. “The main thing was getting three points.

“To be fair to Leicester, they put in hard work for the whole game, trying to keep us out, and Sadio (Mane) and the lads were really tiring out their defence, and that kind of gave me the opportunity to come on with fresh legs to try and cause them problems.

“Luckily, the chances fell my way, and it was nice to see them hit the back of the net.

“The first half we kept the ball well but didn’t really get at them as much as we would have wanted.

“The manager had a few words at half-time and the lads talked to each other and really came at them in the second half.

“To be fair to Leicester they worked hard and really put in a good shift to try and keep us at bay, but you could tell towards the end that they had tired legs.

“We had the freshness to come off the bench. As I said, it is nice to get the two goals, but ultimately it is the three points that are massive for us.”

Long’s first goal arrived via a lay-off from Graziano Pelle, after he had controlled Jack Cork’s chipped pass into the area, before Victor Wanyama played him in for the second with a superb ball over the top.

“Graz is a defender’s nightmare,” said Long. “He’s a big lad, but he is great with the ball at his feet and he’s good in the air.

“I had seen the ball go up to him and I thought I’d come in front of him for the set back.

“He put it perfectly into my path and I managed to slot it into the corner.

“For the second one, they were trying to push up a high line and I saw the space in behind and we’re lucky that we have a lot of good midfielders here.”