KEVIN Keegan believes Mark Hughes deserves the time to rebuild Saints after keeping them in the Premier League.

Time is a rarity for top-flight managers in the current climate, but former Saints star and England, Manchester City, Fulham and Newcastle boss Keegan knows Hughes needs patience as he shapes Saints.

Hughes was handed a three-year contract at St Mary's last week after initially steering the club away from the drop in 2017/18.

"First of all it was a great appointment in the first place to keep them up," Keegan, who scored 42 goals in 80 games for Saints in the early 1980s, said.

"I think they would have gone down without Mark Hughes.

"It's nothing against the other guys but they were just not going anywhere and someone needed to come in with a fresh approach and drastically change things.

"That's what Mark did and he deserves three years to try and not only keep them up but build them back up to a mid-table to top-half of the table side.

"Top six is out of the question for teams like Southampton now because when they've got players the top clubs keep taking them.

"Look at how many Southampton players are now playing at Liverpool, Manchester United and Spurs – everywhere.

"It's difficult but at least they've stayed up.

"Now Mark can rebuild and I think he'll look forward to the challenge.

"This is a big challenge for him but one he's capable of doing well with."

The experienced Welshman replaced Mauricio Pellegrino in March and led Saints to safety.

The 54-year-old is the first British manager at St Mary's since Nigel Adkins, who was sacked in January 2014 and replaced with Argentine Mauricio Pochettino.

After that, Dutchman Ronald Koeman had two seasons at the helm before Frenchman Claude Puel was replaced by another Argentine, Pellegrino, after one campaign in charge.

"They've gone down the foreign route over the last few years and they've had a mixed bag, haven't they," Keegan added.

"Pochettino was very good but they lost him and that's just like the players.

"Mark, if he builds something there, he could stay a long time because he's that sort of manager who will.

"I think it's a great appointment and it's a sigh of relief for Southampton fans because a lot of them must have thought 'we're going down here'."

Saints owe Hughes time to get things right at St Mary's.

"There is a [climate of impatience] but he's a manager the crowd can relate to," the former two-time Ballon d'Or winner, 67, said.

"As a player he was very focused, very hard-working and he expects the same from his players.

"They'll see a Southampton side out there who are working hard and looking like they want to win.

"That's important because I think they lost that a little bit with some of the managers they had – they didn't seem to have that gung ho enthusiasm at home especially, where you've got to win your games and pick points up.

"Time, it's not a word you use with management but if anyone can give him time Southampton can.

"He's kept them up and he deserves a chance to take them back to where Southampton fans realistically expect them to be, which is mid-table and top-half if possible.

"You can't compete with City, United, Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea – they've got so much money and you're never going to have it at Southampton and if you get it you can't necessarily get those players.

"It's a different for Mark Hughes but he's been used to that at Stoke and other clubs he's been at.

"He's used to working with small budgets and beating the odds."