Wigan boss Roberto Martinez is well aware of Mauricio Pochettino's management credentials and feels the Argentinian has made an encouraging start to life in charge at Saints.

The Saints' decision last month to sack Nigel Adkins, who guided them to back-to-back promotions over the past two seasons, and replace him with the former Espanyol coach at a time when the south coast outfit was lying 15th in the Premier League was widely met with bemusement.

But while Adkins' successor might have been little-known to much of the Saints faithful, he is certainly familiar to Martinez.

The Spaniard rates Pochettino's work at Espanyol, where he achieved Primera Division finishes of 10th, 11th, eighth and 14th before leaving in November with them bottom of the table.

And Martinez believes the two performances the 40-year-old has overseen so far at his new club - a 0-0 home draw with Everton and 2-1 defeat at Manchester United - have been promising.

Speaking ahead of Wigan's home league clash with Saints tomorrow, Martinez said: "You need to remember with the new manager that he is not involved in (the decision of) changing managers - he is just coming in to do his job.

"He was very impressive at Espanyol. He is well-organised, he has very clear football concepts and he is used to dealing with high-pressure games and with bringing youngsters through.

"What he did at Espanyol was remarkable and with the way Southampton have been playing in the last two games you can see he has a relationship straight away with his team and that they reflect the way he wants to play."

Martinez was also keen to pay tribute to Adkins' efforts and thinks it has been a commendable season overall for 16th-placed Southampton, who go into tomorrow's contest having lost only three times in their last 14 league games.

" Nigel Adkins did an incredible job and I'm sure everyone who is connected to Southampton will always appreciate that," he said.

"He achieved two promotions and steadied the group in the new league, so that was a phenomenal job from the outside.

"We can see with the two performances under the new manager what normally happens - it gives a new start for different players in the squad and the squad gets galvanised.

"But it is also fair to say that after their first few games this season, Southampton showed they were ready and used to the new league.

"They have been very, very impressive, so we expect a very difficult game."

Wigan are 18th in the table, level on points with both 17th-placed Reading and 19th-placed Aston Villa and three adrift of Southampton.

The Latics have seven matches left this term at the DW Stadium, where they have won only twice all season, and Martinez has once again stressed how important it is that his team make the most of those fixtures.

He said: "We have seven games left at the DW Stadium.

"Every single one of those 21 points that are there to fight for are going to be extremely vital."

Paul Scharner could make his Wigan comeback in tomorrow's encounter after rejoining the club on transfer deadline day.

Scharner, who spent four-and-a-half years with the Latics before leaving in 2010, has been recruited by Martinez on loan from Hamburg until the end of the season as an additional option in central defence, where Ivan Ramis (knee) and Antolin Alcaraz (groin) are currently unavailable.