Nigel Adkins adamant that he will still be Southampton manager after QPR clash

Southampton manager Nigel Adkins (GETTY IMAGES)

Southampton manager Nigel Adkins is confident both he and QPR counterpart Mark Hughes will remain in charge whatever the outcome of Saturday's match between their respective sides.

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

QPR are the only side below them in the table after an 11-match winless streak.

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, although the side's number one position remains unclear.

Adkins, himself a former goalkeeper, has started Kelvin Davis, Paulo Gazzaniga and Artur Boruc already this season and, rather than being disruptive, he thinks the rotation policy will pay off.

"I am just going to highlight how hard and how dedicated the three goalkeepers have been and I can't speak highly enough about them," he said. "They all want to play.

"They're all desperate to play and the only opportunity they have to play is by keeping working on the training ground and conducting themselves in the right way, and I must say the three of them have been outstanding."

Adkins has a number of options elsewhere on the field but has no intention of letting any peripheral players leave before the Football League's emergency loan window closes.

"We're not looking for any of tho Simon Peachse boys to go out before," he said when asked about the likes of Tadanari Lee and Steve de Ridder.

"We've got a group of players now who are working hard and they all want to be in the starting XI.

"If they can't, they want to be on the bench so they can come on and make an impact and contribute.

"The good thing is when we look at it, we know where we are in the league table. It has actually galvanised everybody and brought them closer together."

PA