Hodgson is happy for Long to travel to Dublin and be assessed by the Irish medical staff . But he has ruled out Long's hopes of recovering from the knee injury suffered against Aston Villa 12 days ago for the two legs on November 11 and 15. Albion's medical staff diagnosed a six week lay-off for the former Reading player. Hodgson said: "Shane is not fit to play. The two doctors are in contact with each other and the Irish doctor knows that he is making good progress and we are working hard with him. "But he is way off being fit to play a football match. "If they want to prove that by inviting him over and sending him back again, that's okay with me. "But there is no way unfortunately he will be fit to play for us at the weekend or for Ireland. "In fact, there is a lot of work to be done if he is going to be fit to play after the international break." Hodgson added: "Ireland might just want to see him anyway. To be fair, we've got the Monday off in this international break with a lot of players away. "If Giovanni (Trapattoni) wants to see him and invite him over there, then fine, but there is no medical examination which will change what is an obvious verdict. "It is going to take some time to heal. The initial suggestion was six weeks and Shane would like it to be quicker than that - but it certainly isn't going to be two weeks." Midfielder Paul Scharner has joined striker Long on the injury list and has been ruled out of this weekend's clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Scharner has been struggling with a knee injury suffered during the last international break when on duty for Austria. He scored the winner against Aston Villa but had to be substituted with the problem against Liverpool last weekend. A scan has revealed slight medial ligament damage and he faces a battle to be fit for West Brom's next game at the conclusion of the international break in two weeks. Baggies head coach Hodgson confirmed: "It's a slight knee ligament problem which he picked up playing for Austria. "Paul actually had the feeling that his knee wasn't 100% right even when we played Aston Villa but we got through that one. "We thought maybe it was going to be okay but it flared up in the Liverpool game and he had to come off. "He hasn't trained this week and the scans do show some minor damage to the medial ligament but it's not a major issue. "It will keep him out this weekend and keep him out for at least another couple of weeks after that. "But hopefully when the international break is over, maybe he will have recovered."
