RALPH Hasenhuttl maintained he has the support of Saints’ board – and insisted now isn’t the time to think about the January transfer window.

With just two months to go until clubs are given the chance to bolster their squad for the second half of the season, the Austrian believes his focus needs to be on his current players.

Although admitting fresh faces would be a welcome addition, he made it clear that any buys wouldn’t be a knee-jerk response to Saints’ 9-0 defeat to Leicester last week.

He said: “You wouldn’t need the 9-0 to know that in some positions we need new players.

“It mustn’t be this result that shows me we have to do so.

“It would be nice if we have more options in the winter transfer window, but it is not the moment to think about this.

“We have to trust the players that are here and the players we are working with and that they can do it better.

“They know it and I know it and let us come to work together.”

In the immediate aftermath of the Leicester defeat, it was reported that Hasenhuttl was on the brink of being axed from his Saints role.

However, the Daily Echo revealed that the notion of his departure was premature and wide of the mark.

Chief executive Martin Semmens is keen to appoint a director of football to help assist Hasenhuttl with overall strategy and recruitment on the playing side of things.

“Absolutely, yes. Everyone sees in what situation we are and how much we do every day to fight back on a positive track.

“But at the moment it’s a difficult period with difficult fixtures. Everybody knows we cannot expect to go to Manchester City and take easily three points.

“We all know about the critical situation at the moment. We know that it is a season where it’s again about being relegated or not. This shows from the first ten games.

“But now a few players are coming back, and we have shown before that with these players that we can also win games. This is what we have to do and as soon as possible.”

Saints find themselves in the relegation zone having played nine games.

Despite this, Hasenhuttl made moves to reassure fans that now isn’t the time to be panicking about their position.

He added: “After ten games you can say a little bit about what the table is looking for. Eight points.

“When I was taking over this club, we had 16 games and nine points. I don’t want to have this again so let us take a few points early and start at the today.”