I don't fear the axe - Adkins

Nigel Adkins claims reports that he is set to be sacked by Southampton 'doesn't affect me' and he is focusing on getting a first win.

The Saints chief has endured a difficult start to the Premier League campaign with four successive defeats - three of those were against Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal - which has already resulted in talk of a change at St Mary's. Reports in Spain have suggested former Liverpool and Inter Milan boss Rafa Benitez is being lined up by Saints chairman Nicola Cortese, which has since been denied by football expert Guillem Balague on Thursday. However Adkins, who helped the club to back-to-back promotions from League One, insists such talk does not affect him and believes he will be at St Mary's for the foreseeable future. "It doesn't affect me," he said. "I don't read the newspapers. I've got a great working relationship with the chairman here at Southampton and we share a common goal. We've had a great couple of seasons and there is stability here at Southampton so we don't even think about things like that. "I've got my own desire to keep winning games of football because we have that winning mentality here at Southampton. There is a desire that we keep being strong and improving. I think if you're looking over your shoulder thinking 'Well, if I don't win this one' your mind is going to be affected in different ways so I don't even think about that. At some stage in the future, like in every job, there will be a parting of ways a long way down the line. "All we are doing [right now] is concentrating on what we're doing. There is stability at Southampton, we're bringing the youth players through the system. We have just played Man United and Arsenal and they would have had difficult spells, but they kept stability and that is why they have been successful."