FORMER Saints manager Nigel Adkins will have to wait for his chance to face the club at an employment tribunal.

Adkins is claiming unfair dismissal following the decision to sack him from his post at St Mary’s last January.

He was due to have his case heard in Southampton on Monday, but the court yesterday confirmed that the matter had been postponed to a later date, which is yet to be arranged.

Mr Adkins, who lives in Winchester, is currently the manager of Championship club Reading.

The League Managers Association took up the 48-year-old’s case following his departure from St Mary’s earlier in the year.

Birkenhead-born Mr Adkins took over at Saints in September 2010, when the club were near the foot of the League One table.

He guided them to promotion in his first season, before doing exactly the same in his second, as Saints ended a seven-year absence from the Premier League.

However, he was shown the door halfway through the last campaign and was replaced as manager by Mauricio Pochettino.

The club had endured a difficult start to life in the top flight under Mr Adkins, lying bottom of the table after just a single win in their first ten matches, and his position came under severe threat following a 2-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion in early November.

However, he was retained by chairman Nicola Cortese with Saints losing only two of their next 12 league matches.

But it was then, after a 2-2 draw away to Chelsea in mid-January, that Mr Adkins was dismissed.

At that stage Saints had moved up to 15th place in the table. They ended the season in 14th.

Mr Adkins returned to management in March of this year, when he took over at Reading.

Coincidentally, his first home game in charge of the Royals was against his old club, with Saints winning 2-0 at the Madejski Stadium.

Before that match, Mr Adkins was tight-lipped over his unresolved issues with the club, saying he would “rather not get involved in the conversations”, although he did add “I had a fantastic time and that can never be taken away.”

Mr Adkins’ claim is the latest in a number to have been brought against Saints in recent years, including former chief operations officer Andy Oldknow, ex-commercial director John O’Sullivan, former first-team coach Wally Downes and ex-goalkeeping coach Malcolm Webster.

All those cases have been settled out of court before reaching a tribunal hearing.