(Reuters) - Southampton's new manager Mark Hughes is confident that his team can avoid relegation this season, saying that he had already seen positive signs in his first few training sessions in charge of the Premier League club.
Former Stoke City boss Hughes was appointed at Southampton on Wednesday, following the sacking of Mauricio Pellegrino earlier in the week, with Saints a point and a place above the drop zone with eight league games remaining.
Hughes will take charge of his first match when Southampton travel to Wigan Athletic in Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final tie.
"I've been encouraged, working with the group in terms of quality and application, I know we have the talent to get the job done...," Hughes told a news conference.
"I've been in the Premier League a long time and won a lot of points. We're looking short term for now and that allows us to focus on the job at hand.
"There's a real energy to the club, which I like. We're all pushing in the right direction and we need to confirm that by winning football matches."
Hughes, who was sacked by Stoke shortly after their FA Cup third round exit to Coventry City in January, believes the trip to Wigan is the perfect opportunity to lift fans' spirits following a dismal league run.
"The FA Cup has been very good to me and has always figured highly in my career. I have a great affinity with the competition," Hughes said.
"I think we are taking over 4000 to Wigan, and we need to give them something to cheer for, something to get behind."
The 54-year-old, who played for Southampton from 1998 to 2000, believes he has bought a new level of intensity upon his return and hopes his players will benefit from it.
"I work in a certain way and I train at certain levels of intensity which I'm looking for from the players and I've seen that in the past few days," Hughes added.
"...Maybe the intensity wasn't that way before, but that's the way I work and hopefully that can hold us in good stead."
Southampton will be without injured striker Charlie Austin and midfielder Steven Davis for Sunday's match, with the duo sidelined with hamstring injuries sustained in December and February respectively.