SAINTS SEEKING A SPARK

Hughes set to return to his old club

MARK HUGHES is in pole position to land the Southampton job and seal a return to Premier League management.

Hughes, sacked by Stoke in January, is Southampton’s No.1 choice to replace Mauricio Pellegrino, who got the boot on Monday night.

Talks between Hughes and the relegation-threatened Saints have begun.

And if they are successful, he will become manager of the club he played for between 1998 and 2000, supported by his usual staff Mark Bowen and Eddie Niedzwiecki.

Goalkeeping coach Dave Watson and senior firstteam coach Kelvin Davis, who took training yesterday, are expected to become part of Hughes’ set-up.

Southampton have moved quickly following Pellegrino’s exit and

Hughes’ appointment could be confirmed in the next 24 hours.

The Welshman was identified as an ideal successor as Southampton drew up contingency plans when it became increasingly clear

Pellegrino’s time was up.

They have an

FA Cup quarter-final at

Wigan on Sunday and eight league games to stave off relegation, starting with a huge clash at troubled West Ham on March 31.

Pellegrino paid the price for overseeing a run of just one win in 17 games, which left the Saints one place and one point outside the relegation zone.

Southampton want a boss with Premier League experience who can instantly lift a squad that failed to buy into Pellegrino’s methods – and they feel Hughes fits the bill.

They would be the sixth club he has managed in the top flight after Blackburn, Manchester City, Fulham, Queens Park Rangers and Stoke.

Hughes led Stoke to three successive

ninth- place finishes before they dropped to 13th last year. He was also credited with moving Stoke away from their direct, physical brand of football to a more attractive style of play. And Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier believes improving the team’s style of play should be the new man’s top priority.

He said: “It has to change attacking-wise. There has been too much possession-based football without actually threatening the opposition. “The team is crying out for two up top. All season we have just played with the one and we haven’t created enough chances to win football matches.

“It has got to be a bit more positive. The players have to be encouraged to pass the ball forward quicker and not just keep possession for the sake of keeping possession.

“I think they may have got a little bit too complacent and thought they are too good to be in this position go down. Unfortunately, that is not the case. “Hopefully a new manager will jolt the players out of that thinking and get them in the right frame of mind to get them enough points in these last eight games to stay up.”