Saints head coach Steve Wigley wants to make an addition to the managerial team - but it may not be a director of football.

Former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier and David Platt, who worked with Wigley at England under-21 level and at Nottingham Forest, are two names being linked with a senior coaching role at St Mary's.

Former Saints players Mark Hughes and Micky Adams are another two players who are sure to be linked with the position over the coming weeks.

But the Daily Echo understands that chairman Rupert Lowe is unlikely to make an appointment quickly and may even take on an even more hands-on position himself.

Wigley said: "I will be bringing someone in to work alongside me and that will become clearer in the next couple of weeks. I've got to sit down with the chairman to discuss the finer details but I don't see that being a major problem."

Before then, Wigley has to concentrate on bringing in a new defender before the August 31 deadline.

He added: "We will be adding a central defender to the squad between now and the deadline but these are things that I've got to discuss with the chairman and the scouting staff because they play a big part in that. They scour most of Britain and Europe to find players."

Wigley was offered the role of head coach by Lowe by phone and accepted immediately, despite insisting that his future lay with the Saints academy when he took on the role of caretaker manager for two games after Gordon Strachan left in February.

He added: "I got a call late on Sunday night to say that the club was making a change and that I would play a major part in the restructuring. I'm not caretaker manager, my responsibility will be for the footballing side, no different than at a lot of clubs. I will be head coach of this football club, the responsibility of the football side in terms of the coaching, selecting the team and deciding how we're going to play are my responsibilities."

Wigley's first game in charge will be against Bolton at St Mary'stomorrow night.

"This has happened all very, very quickly but my main thought now is to prepare a team for Wednesday night," added the 42-year-old. "I want the game to come round as soon as possible so we start talking about football."