Saints’ performance at Stoke was not enough to convince the club’s former striker Kenwyne Jones that they will definitely avoid relegation.

Jones played against his old side for the first time since leaving St Mary’s in August 2007, scoring the hosts’ first in Saturday’s 3-3 draw with a sublime flick.

But, had it not been for a 90th minute Cameron Jerome wonder strike, Saints would have issued Stoke with their first Premier League defeat at the Britannia Stadium since February.

So, had Jones seen enough to make him believe his ex-club would retain their top-flight status this season?

“I cannot answer that,” he said.

“They have to work on their tactics and try and stay up, but I really can’t say.”

Jones admitted he was impressed with how Saints had performed, before insisting much of their success was down to a poor Stoke display.

“They’re doing well,” he said.

“They are fighting for their lives. Credit to them, they came here and did well.

“To be honest, we gave away three bad goals.

“They did well, but I put it down to us not being at the races in the first half.”

The 28-year-old was also circumspect when asked if he felt Saints were reaping the rewards for sticking with manager Nigel Adkins.

“I can’t say. Every season is different,” he said. “Every run of games is different. Sometimes you might be on top for a minute and then things go haywire and people lose their jobs.

“All we can be concerned about is what we do here and be stable and play football.”

Jones insisted that Stoke never lost faith that they would get a result against Saints, even when they were 3-1 down or when they had Steven N’Zonzi sent off at 3-2.

“At no point in time did we think we would lose,” he said.