Saints boss doesn’t expect axe to fall on him or QPR chief

Thursday, November 15, 2012
5:04 PM

Southampton manager Nigel Adkins is confident both he and QPR counterpart Mark Hughes will remain in charge whatever the outcome of Saturday’s battle of the Premier League bottom two.

Saints head to Loftus Road this weekend with just one win to their name since their seven-year top flight exile came to an end.

QPR are the only side below them after an 11-match winless streak, something they hope to end at St Mary’s.

It has been suggested the losing manager could be sacked but Adkins said: “I don’t think it will have any relevance whatsoever for either manager.

“I’ll be perfectly honest because that is what you’re going to build it up as, because we’ve got two managers, two football clubs at the wrong end of the table.

“I am pretty sure, I am pretty confident that both managers will be in situ come on Monday.

“I am looking forward to another game. It has been a good week’s training. I feel fit, I feel fresh and I’ve got an energy about myself.

“I feel stimulated and I am looking forward to the next game in the Barclays Premier League game, which is away to Queens Park Rangers.

“It’s the next game in the journey that we’re on. Every game that you look at has three points up for grabs.

“That’s what we’ve got to go and do. We’ve already established that we’re at the wrong end of the league table.

“We can’t hide away from that and so the importance of the next game is always going to be highlighted. But it is going to be like that for us for the remainder of the campaign.

“It’s a tough league that we’re in, we’re well aware of that, but one we love being in and one we expect to be in for many, many years to come.”

Adkins boasts a near fully-fit squad for the trip to west London, with only Frazer Richardson and Richard Chaplow ruled out.

He could therefore name the same starting XI that faced Swansea last weekend.