Hughes gets Saints job until the summer
SOUTHAMPTON have appointed Mark Hughes as manager until the end of the season. As reported by Sportsmail yesterday, Hughes succeeds Mauricio Pellegrino, who was sacked on Monday after just nine months in charge with Saints languishing one point and one place above the relegation zone. Hughes, sacked by Stoke in January, has only eight games to secure Southampton’s topflight status but is confident he can succeed at a club where he made 60 appearances between 1998 and 2000. ‘It’s a challenge I’m excited by,’ said Hughes. ‘It’s a great opportunity to come back to a club I know well, a club I’ve got a real affinity with, and I couldn’t turn that down. First and foremost I think it’s about coming in and being a different voice. The objective is to make sure we’re a Premier League club next year. ‘That’s where this club need to be, that’s where we should be, and that’s our intention.’
÷ GYLFI SIGURDSSON’S chances of playing for Iceland at the World Cup have received a boost, with the Everton midfielder’s knee injury expected to rule him out for six to eight weeks.