Nigel Adkins will continue as Saints boss after surviving crunch talks with Nicola Cortese.

The under pressure manager was summoned to a showdown meeting with executive chairman Cortese last night following the club’s poor start to the season that has left Saints bottom of the Premier League.

Adkins was understood to have feared he was going to be sacked, but after hours of talks Cortese told him to continue as manager.

It is believed that Saints have not put a timescale on their backing of Adkins, but he will be in charge when Swansea visit St Mary’s on Saturday.

A dejected Adkins had taken training at noon yesterday, as the players warmed-down and reflected on their latest loss at West Brom.

There was a sombre mood at the training ground with an expectation that Adkins, who has led Saints to back-to-back promotions, was about to be axed.

As whispers of his possible demise spread bookmakers had not only slashed his odds of getting the sack but, oddly, installed him as second favourite to take over at Blackpool.

Later in the day Cortese and Adkins were locked in talks for several hours, discussing the start to the season and the way ahead.

Thankfully for Adkins the decision from the meeting went in his favour and he was given an assurance that he would be allowed to continue as manager - for now.

Though the backing was not a guarantee to be in charge for the rest of the season come what may, it does at least give Adkins a little longer to try and turn things around.

November was always going to be a crucial month for Saints.

It may have started with a defeat at West Brom but with a home game against Swansea and then a trip to QPR coming up, as well as St Mary’s matches against Newcastle and Norwich, there are chances for points to be gained.

Adkins has retained the support of much of the fan base, with supporters at West Brom chanting his name for a significant portion of the game, despite the result.

Even with yesterday’s backing from Cortese though Adkins will be well aware that the pressure has only been eased temporarily and he must now deliver some much needed wins.