Southampton hope to appoint Mark Hughes as their new manager on Wednesday. The former Stoke City boss has been offered a contract until the end of the season, before any long-term decisions are made on a permanent replacement for Mauricio Pellegrino.

Hughes, 54, will bring his assistants Mark Bowen and Eddie Niedzwiecki with him, the three having worked together extensively at Hughes’ five previous jobs in the Premier League. The club were in negotiations with Hughes, who is representing himself in the talks, for most of Tuesday and hope to have him working with the squad by midweek.

Hughes played for Saints for two seasons between 1998 and 2000 and they believe that his experience will steer the club away from the current relegation threat. After Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final against Wigan Athletic, they have a difficult run of league games when the programme resumes after the international break. The first of those eight league games, away at West Ham in what could be a behind-closed-doors game at the London Stadium, will be critical.

The appointment of Hughes marks a different approach to previous Saints appointments when the club have typically gone after foreign coaches with a very specific set of criteria. The previous regime appointed Mauricio Pochettino and the current one brought in Ronald Koeman, both of whom were poached by Premier League rivals.

After that Claude Puel was regarded as a competent coach but it was felt that allowing him to go on to a second season would risk a downturn. As things have turned out, Pellegrino has presided over one himself, failing to settle on a team that has looked capable of a top-10 finish. Southampton hope that Hughes will be able to get the eight or nine points they will need to survive, from a difficult fixture run-in.

Mauricio Pellegrino was sacked as manager of Southampton on Monday night credit: Getty Images

Sacked by Stoke on January 6, Hughes will have a chance to stake a claim to the job in the long-term but Southampton will keep their options open. They wanted Pellegrino’s appointment to work, and felt that they gave him as long as possible to convert draws into victories, but just one win in 17 league matches made it impossible to persevere with him. His remarks after the defeat to Newcastle United that the players had lacked spirit was the final red flag for the club.

Southampton have been exploring more experienced options and already had a plan in place should they have decided to replace Pellegrino, with Saturday’s dire performance against proving to be the final straw. There was a feeling that a change had become urgently necessarily and, while many fans had been calling for his sacking over several months, Southampton felt that he could be a long-term success and were hoping he would translate a series of ultimately costly draws into wins.

The Argentinian said that he was “sorry” to leave the club in its current situation, one point and one place above the relegation zone with eight games to play. In an open letter to the club’s supporters, he said: “From the beginning I tried to do my best every single day, I tried to give back to the club and tried to represent the club with pride.

“Some moments we managed this, some moments we couldn’t, but we have been living a difficult season for many reasons. The manager is the face of a lot of decisions and actions, but I always tried to put the club first with my technical staff and the board behind me.

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“I am really happy with the hospitality of the people of Southampton and the respect you have shown me in every moment during this experience. The fans have been behind us even in difficult games and I am really grateful for your support in those situations.

“I have to say thanks to Ralph [Krueger, chairman], to the board, to Les [Reed, executive director] and Ross [Wilson, director of recruitment], all my technical staff and all the Southampton employees. Also to my players, who respected me in every single moment. I feel so sorry to leave the club in this situation, but when you don’t get results I understand the decision the club has to take. I wish everyone all the best for the rest of the season, I have enjoyed an amazing experience and I know that Southampton has everything required to move forward.”

The former captain and goalkeeper Kelvin Davis has taken training with goalkeeping coach Dave Watson. After the West Ham game on March 31, Southampton go into a series of tough games against Arsenal (away), Chelsea (home) and Leicester (away) before a home match against Bournemouth. After that they are away to Everton and finish the season at home to Manchester City.