Shane Long is determined to enjoy a good pre-season and impress the new Southampton head coach Mauricio Pellegrino.

The 30-year-old Republic of Ireland international striker endured a frustrating season at St Mary's and only managed three Premier League goals in 29 appearances before a broken metatarsal bone in his foot ruled him out for the final few weeks.

Long is now fully recovered and working hard on the training ground as he aims to prove to Claude Puel's successor, Pellegrino, that he deserves a place in his starting XI for the season-opening clash against Swansea at St Mary's on August 12.

He said: "For me, last season was a bit disappointing.

"I didn’t play as much as I would have liked to and felt I didn’t get the chances that I deserved at times, so I want to hit the ground running this year.

"It's the first pre-season in a long time that I've been here from the start, so I want to show the manager what I have got and leave an impression on him come the start of the season."

Long has been impressed with the new coach in the early days of pre-season training and feels the Saints are set for an "exciting season".

"The first impressions are really good. We’re working hard and all the work is with the football. Straight away we are working on shape and how Mauricio wants us to play," he added.

"He came in and had a quick chat about how he wants to improve us. I know he likes to have meetings, talk to the players and gets his point across well.

"It was a really tough day’s work but I can already see that this season could be a very exciting season."