THE energy with which Che Adams enters the room – as he pops into the auditorium and greets everyone before sitting down to chat in the meeting venue – is infectious.

The Saints man is ready to examine everything football at Staplewood but the biggest smile he produces remains when talking about those closest to him.

Adams and his girlfriend welcomed their first child to the world on November 8 amid a tumultuous time at the club – with Ralph Hasenhuttl sacked at the start of that week.

As his relegation-threatened club battled crushing losses, further management changes and an enveloping air of negativity, Adams has found comfort off the pitch.

“It’s been great, I’m really enjoying it and hopefully it’s not affecting me too much on the pitch with sleeping and stuff like that,” he told the Daily Echo.

“I don’t wake up with the baby at the night so I’m buzzing with that, it’s nice to come home in the tough times with football and have something to cuddle with.

“I’m not able to relax quite as much! It’s all hands on deck, as soon as I walk through the door after training she hands the baby to me! But it’s a nice feeling.”

Although Adams tries to remain “one tone” and not let football get to him, he admits winning football matches makes that easier at work and at home.

That is not something that has happened all too often this season – as the club slipped back down to bottom of the Premier League this weekend with 13 matches left to play.

Given the position Saints were in when former manager Nathan Jones was sacked just last month – 15 points from 22 games – it is lucky the club are not completely adrift.

Two 1-0 wins in the three matches that have followed have breathed life into the season, with new manager Ruben Selles admitting “brutally honest” home truths have been told by both staff and players.

Adams was asked directly about what those home truths included, and he admitted: “Just everything around the training ground really, sloppiness. Lates to training and lates to lunch, things like that.

“It was really laying down the simple things that put you in a position to win games. We're not saying that is the reason we were losing but if you're sloppy all over the place you can't expect to do it at 3PM on a Saturday.”

Adams added: “I've been here a few times at previous clubs, in the relegation zone even on the last day as well. I am kind of used to it and it takes it out of you.

“You need to be willing to go to the trenches, help people and help your teammates to get us out of this mess because we are the ones who have put ourselves in it.”

Adams himself has not had his best year in front of goal, totalling four in the league. Wolves, Everton, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and more have all been let off the hook by his misses. 

When Jones arrived, he insisted “my strikers always score goals” in his first post-match press conference at Anfield. Adams has not scored in the league since.

“Yeah that does (add pressure), as a striker you want to score goals and you are judged on goals,” he said, when reminded of that particular comment.

“It’s definitely important and I’ve not got as many as I would have liked this year and in past years, but that’s the life of a striker.

“I’ve missed a lot of big chances but it’s one of those things, I’m happy to help the team whenever I can. I think everyone still sees the value in what I can bring to the team.”

Adams added: “It's not been easy, we've been losing matches and that's our life, people's livelihoods and for the fans as well.

“It's not nice when you're not winning, it is easy to become negative and get in that cycle when you're losing and you're not producing on the pitch.”

Adams is among a core of senior players, including captain James Ward-Prowse, Theo Walcott, Willy Caballero and Kyle Walker-Peters, who have now assumed responsibility of policing this.

Selles has entrusted them with taking the group in the right direction off the pitch. On the pitch, it looked as though the team may have been going in a different direction to Adams altogether.

The Scottish international’s run of just two league goals since August – having no other regular contributors beyond Ward-Prowse in the squad – prompted Saints to spend over £50million on attacking reinforcements in January.

Adams was benched for Jones’s final match and misses Selles’s first two through injury. Few would have been surprised if Kamaldeen Sulemana, Paul Onuachu and even Mislav Orsic formed a trio of their own.

But, starting on his return and assisting smartly for Charly Alcaraz’s winner versus Leicester last weekend, Adams is an all-but-guaranteed starter again.

“In the tough period we’re in you just want to help the team as much as you can so to get the assist was great and more importantly to get the win as well,” he said.

“That’s all we’re worried about at this stage of the season. We don’t really care or mind how we get the three points, it’s just getting them now.”

Adams, however, did deliver unprompted praise for the youngest of the new forward additions – a club-record signing.

“The quality they have brought in with Kamaldeen is really exciting. To play with him is amazing,” Adams said.

“He’s so fast, I played one in the air to him against Leicester and it was a bit high, but if it was a bit lower he would have been straight in because he’s so quick.”

Although the minimum accepted standard has been lifted for all in the squad, Adams could be one of the players benefitting from Selles’s move into the main office.

Adams has previously spoken about his relaxed nature and demonstrates it throughout the interview. He is an avid FIFA player when looking to unwind.

The point has been made about the assistant becoming the boss after having already built relationships before the introduction of absolute authority.

It so far seems at least some of the players still refer to Selles as ‘Ruben’ in interviews – whatever you think of that.

Adams, asked if the Spaniard is still as approachable now he is in charge, responded: “Even more really, he is a really good guy.

“You can talk to him on anything and he has time for anyone so that is important as well. He comes and talks to you as a normal person, asking how things are at home.”

He added: “It is really important, we're all normal guys we all have problems. Everyone was really happy when he got the job.

"Every day working with him is really good, he is really intense so he demands a lot but everyone is willing to push forward.” 

Just as Hasenhuttl and Jones did, Selles will now lean on Adams to offer something in a frontline that has often faltered. Results elsewhere have not gone the desired way today.

What could have been a free hit at Manchester United carries a fair bit more significance. Can Adams bring his relaxed energy when he needs it most?