REPUBLIC OF IRELAND striker Shane Long is well aware of the faith that national boss Giovanni Trapattoni has shown in him.

Now he’s repaying the favour by backing the Italian to lead Ireland all the way to the World Cup in Brazil in 2014.

The 72-year-old caused a stir in the media last week when he indicated that he would like to remain in charge of the national side beyond the current campaign, with familiar arguments about his age, salary and footballing methodology coming to the fore once again.

Long, however, has no such doubts about the manager’s future, telling reporters yesterday that “the longer he’s involved with Irish football, the better.”

Speaking yesterday at the launch of the 2011 An Post FAI Summer Schools, the Reading man emphasised just how far his game has progressed under Trapattoni and assistant manager Marco Tardelli.

“When I come into the Irish squad, I learn something new every time,” Long said.

He [Trapattoni] tells you things that are so simple but that you wouldn’t think about – they add to your game a lot. That’s the experience of being in the game for so long.

He’s added something to every player’s game.

The 24-year-old also appears unfazed by the criticism which the national side’s tactics have attracted. Like his manager, Long clearly believes that the result is the most important priority, with entertainment and attractive football coming a distant second.

“If you’re 1-0 up, it’s just as good as a 4-0 win once you get the three-points on the board. It’s the right way to go I think.”

“It’s working for us and we’re getting results,” he continued. “We’ve put ourselves in a great position now and the group is ours to lose which is a nice position to be in.”

For Long, the game against fellow table-toppers Russia in Moscow in September is the one which will make or break the Irish campaign. However, aware that it has often been the smaller nations which have caused Ireland problems in the past, he knows that the side need to concentrate on each opponent as they present themselves, starting with the trip to Skopje in June.

I think our one big game will be in Russia – if we can get a result out there, we’ll be in a great position.

But first we’ve to look to the Macedonia game. It’ll be a hard game in the heat, but three points there will go a long way.

Before that, however, Long still has a lot to play for on the club front with Reading pushing hard for promotion to the Premier League.

A 2-1 win at home to Preston North End on Tuesday evening saw the side leap into sixth position and a playoff spot with just seven games remaining. There is a definite sense though that the striker feels that automatic promotion is not quite out of reach if they can continue their current run of form.

“We’re seven points off second position and anything is possible,” he said.

For the last five games, we’ve never looked like losing and I think that [Preston's goal on Tuesday] was the first goal we’d conceded in three or four games.

We’re on a good run of form at the moment, and we’ve seen it over the last few seasons – Burnley and Blackpool made a late surge and now they’re in the Premiership so that’s what we’re trying to emulate now.

Alongside the club’s own drive for promotion, Long has an individual goal which he would dearly love to reach. With 20 goals to his name so far this season, he’s just three behind the league’s top scorer, Danny Graham of Watford.

“Who’s counting?” is his cool response when asked about the race of the Golden Boot, adding that he never dreamed of being in contention back at the start of the season.

“When it’s in your grasp now, it’s obviously something that you set your sights on. Hopefully I can keep scoring and keep putting the pressure on Danny.”

And should Reading miss out on promotion, what of a potential transfer to the Premiership next year?

I’ve been brought up to always concentrate on the next game. Reading have been good to me and I want to repay the favour by trying to get them back to the Premiership and that’s all I’m thinking about at the moment.

We’ll worry about that when the time comes.