Soccer-Saints super sub Long happy to make his chance count

Aug 10 (Reuters) - Southampton forward Shane Long is aware of the intense competition for places in the Saints team and is a relieved man after coming off the bench to score a late equaliser in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Newcastle United. The Ireland international headed in the equaliser in the 79th minute after coming on as a 66th-minute replacement for Jay Rodriguez at St James' Park. "When I was on the bench today (Sunday) I was thinking that there was Juanmi and Prowsey (James Ward-Prowse) and all sorts of options to come on," the 28-year-old Long told the club's website (www.saintsfc.co.uk) after the match. "I was hoping that I'd get a game, so I knew that when I came on I had to make the most of it. "Erwin (Koeman) sent me on and told me to get at them because they were tiring a little bit." Long said he had a fair idea of what he needed to do before he stepped onto the pitch. "With Graziano (Pelle) in the middle -- a big, physical presence -- there were gaps for me to come in unnoticed at the back post," he said. "Dusan (Tadic) put in a great cross and I was happy to put it away. "Tim Krul's a big 'keeper so the goal isn't too big when he's in it, and it was nice to see it go into the corner. "After that I thought that we were going to kick on and get the winner that we probably should have, but we'll take the draw." Southampton will host Everton on Saturday in their first home game of the season. (Reporting by Shravanth V in Bengaluru; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)