Shane Long feels pressure to perform

Shane Long believes that he needs to step up his game for West Bromwich Albion in order to escape the drop from manager Roy Hodgson.

The 24-year-old striker has urged for the ex-Liverpool boss to give him more time with Peter Odemwingie to help improve their partnership.

"It will blossom in time, but we've got a lot of attacking options," The Mirror quotes Long as saying. "There are a lot of headaches for the head coach.

"It puts a bit more pressure on us to take our chances when they come our way. We need time to understand each other's runs because it's not been too good up to now. We haven't played too many games together and it takes a while to gel."

The Baggies take on Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on Saturday.