Southampton are taking a major risk by sticking with Hughes through international break

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The final international break of the season offers Premier League sides an almost optimum time to remove an underperforming manager.

That means Mark Hughes may well have had one eye on the forthcoming fortnight with a feeling of trepidation, but Southampton are reportedly set to stick by their man.

Sky Sports claim that Hughes will be in charge for the Saints’ next game; the monster relegation six-pointer against Fulham, another club whose manager – Slavisa Jokanovic – is also under increasing pressure.

But even Jokanovic has more credit in the bank than his next opponent, because he has a successful body of work at Craven Cottage behind him.

Hughes kept Southampton up by the skin of their teeth last season and there was precious little in either their transfer activity in the summer or their performances so far to suggest he is the man to take the club forward.

The similarities between the abject final throws of his Stoke reign – where the rot he allowed to set in was so deep that the club was relegated irrespective of his departure – and Southampton’s current plight are too great to ignore.

Calling for a professional to be sacked is disrespectful but it hardly needs pointing out that dismissing Hughes and appointing a successor in the coming days could have been a turning point in Southampton’s season.

Neglecting to do so is a major risk.