Shane Long admits he does not deserve a new contract at Southampton - even after scoring the Shane Long makes Premier League history with fastest-ever goal
The Republic of Ireland international, 32, will be a free agent when his current deal expires next summer.
But Long, who netted after just seven seconds in Saints’ 1-1 draw at Watford on Tuesday, said: “I don’t think I’ve earned the right to go knocking on the door and asking for more years.
“As a striker you need goals and I am trying to put my case forward between now and the end of the season.
“It’s hard to validate giving a new deal out if you aren’t getting the goals or the results on the pitch.
Charlie Austin told he must leave Southampton by manager Ralph Hasenhuttl
“I am working as hard as I can to try and sway it in my direction and if it’s not to be then I will look to pastures new, but I don’t want that.”
Long has scored 24 goals in 145 Premier League games since joining Saints from Hull for £11m in 2014.
The ex-Reading forward, whose side side can secure survival by beating Bournemouth on Saturday, said: “The club is an amazing club. The people here like the way I approach the game, the way I train and the way I am in the dressing room
“Everyone knows I love it here and I know next season is going to be a big season because of the confidence the manager has instilled around the place and I want to be a part of that.
Shane Long makes Premier League history with fastest-ever goal
“If it does come to it at the end of the season and I’m not wanted anymore, then I will still look back on my career at Southampton as a good time and something to be really proud of.”
Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl admits he would have stayed clear of the Saints if he thought relegation was a big worry.
“If I thought we could not do this, I would not have taken the job," he said.
“In the moment I made the decision to do this job, it was clear I trust my team and that we can stay in the league.
“The way was a very difficult one, but we invested a lot, my staff and the team in this club, to leave this negative track we were in.
“I think we have now the feeling that we are in a period where something is growing here and that is the most important thing for everybody working in this club, that we see that we started to go on a journey that is going in the right direction.”
