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Adkins fearful of Southampton axe

Nigel Adkins has endured a difficult start to life in the Premier League © PA Photos

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Southampton manager Nigel Adkins fears he is set to become the first Premier League manager to lose his job this season.

Adkins led Southampton to back-to-back promotions as he secured their return to the top flight of English football last April, but he accepts the start his side have made to the 2012-13 season has put his position under threat as he has claimed just one win in his first eight games.

While QPR manager Mark Hughes remains the marginal favourite with bookmakers to be the first managerial casualty after his side's winless start to the campaign continued with a 1-1 home draw against Everton on Sunday, Adkins accepts his side's record of conceding 24 goals so far this season may herald his downfall at St Mary's Stadium.

"Honest answer? I don't know how long I have got in this job," Adkins said, as he reflected on his side's 4-1 thumping against West Ham on Saturday. "Stability is important at a football club, but I'm not naive enough to neglect the reality that football is a results-driven business.

"To stay in this league, we simply cannot continue to concede goals at the rate we have done in the first eight games and while we have a process in place at this club that we are doing our best to adhere to, you need to win football matches at some stage.

"On too many occasions in this Premier League, we have given away too many goals. I am being honest about the situation and while I'll continue to work as hard as I can, we'll wait and see what happens."

Adkins' mood will unlikely have been helped by confirmation that Southampton's £12 million summer signing Gaston Ramirez will miss the next six weeks as he recovers from a leg injury, with Southampton's home match against Tottenham next Sunday seemingly becoming a must-win game for the club's under-fire manager.

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