Ralph Hasenhuttl has long been a man under pressure at Southampton, but the Saints could be heading for disaster by firing the Austrian.

It was reported earlier in the season that the 55-year-old had lost the dressing room at St Mary's, and after a poor run of form, it seemed only a matter of time before the board pulled the trigger.

However, the Saints have picked up five points from their last three games, including a draw against Arsenal last time out, which has pushed them away from the relegation zone and emphasised why Hasenhuttl is the right man to take them forward this season.

In a recent interview with GiveMeSport, journalist Dean Jones has claimed that the former RB Leipzig boss is still facing the sack at the south coast club should results go against him.

He said: "It's probably bought him a bit of time, but it's probably bought Southampton as a football club some time too, because they will be seriously weighing up now, what they do after Hasenhuttl because the chances are it's pretty rare that you go through a spell as bad as that and come through it and survive for a long time."

Since taking over as Southampton boss in December 2018, the 55-year-old has overseen 171 matches for the Saints, winning 60 games, drawing 38 and losing 73, including embarrassing 9-0 defeats against Leicester City and Manchester United which could have had many fans questioning his future at the club.

This summer was a promising one for Southampton as they brought in a lot of promising young talents including Armel Bella-Kotchap, Gavin Bazunu and Romeo Lavia. That points towards a bright future at St Mary's as they are more than holding their own in the Premier League despite their lack of experience.

A young squad is always likely to make mistakes but, given time, Hasenhuttl can get the best out of these youngsters. He is also currently coping without Lavia, Bella-Kotchap, Tino Livramento and Kyle Walker-Peters, with all four players on the sidelines through injury.

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Wolves and Bournemouth both sacked their managers early in the season and neither have appointed a new permanent boss, with Steve Davis and Gary O'Neil still in respective caretaker charge, which suggests that the grass isn't always greener after getting rid of a coach prematurely.

Therefore, Southampton fans should give Hasenhuttl some leeway when considering the age of his signings and the injury problems he is currently dealing with.

Once his young players have time to gel and gain experience, there seems little reason why the Saints won't push themselves up the Premier League table.