Shane Long wants to build on his club form at Southampton to nail down a starting place with Ireland ahead of Euro 2016.
The striker has helped the Saints to climb to seventh in the Premier League table and has of late been in favour with boss Ronald Koeman, starting the last two games.
The Tipperary man notched some vital goals for Ireland in qualification for the tournament in France but was used more as an impact substitute – notably scoring against Poland and Germany off the bench – by manager Martin O’Neill.
The 29-year-old picked up the Goal of the Year award for his effort against the world champions at the FAI awards ceremony on Sunday and he told RTÉ Sport he’s working towards a place in the starting XI.
“It’s always going to be tough,” he said. “We’ve got 25 lads that are all eager to play and be part of one of the biggest tournaments of their lives.
“No-one is going to give up their spot easily. Hopefully, I can do well at club level and impress the manager and come in here in a rich vein of form and challenge for that starting 11.
“I’m getting a run of games [with Southampton] and the team is doing well.
“We’re picking up some good results and slowly climbing up the table, putting ourselves in a good position to threaten for Europe. I’m delighted to be a part of that and hopefully [I’ll] be in a good vein of form come the summer."
The ex-Cork City player also spoke about Sunday’s dramatic win over Liverpool, where the Saints came from 2-0 down to claim a 3-2 victory.
While Long didn’t add to his tally of 10 club goals this season, he was at his pesky best, tormenting the Reds defence and felt a couple of decisions went against his side.
“It was an unbelievable game,” he said.
“They should have had a man sent off maybe and a penalty in the first half. Then they went in 2-0 up and we missed a penalty and managed to score three more.
“A lot of ups and downs, it was hard-fought but well deserved victory.”
Ireland face Switzerland and Slovakia on 25 and 29 of March in Dublin.
