NEW boss Nathan Jones is preparing himself to go toe-to-toe with “one of the worlds best coaches” in Jurgen Klopp – as Saints start their new era at Anfield tomorrow (3pm).

Officially unveiled on Thursday as the new manager at St Mary’s, following the sacking of Ralph Hasenhuttl on Monday, Jones has gone through a whirlwind week as he steps into the hotseat on the south coast.

He took charge of former club Luton’s defeat at Stoke on Tuesday, before journeying to Saints for talks and watching their Carabao Cup third-round clash with Sheffield Wednesday 24 hours later.

Having officially been announced as the new Saints manager on Thursday morning, Jones is set to take on a Merseyside mission in rapid time with his new group.

Had he stayed at Luton, the 49-year-old would have been preparing for a Championship clash against Rotherham this weekend.

But asked about now switching the dynamic to go up against Champions League and Premier League winning Klopp, the Saints manager said: “The respect level has to be through the roof because of what he has achieved, in terms of how he goes about his work in terms of everything.

“Personally, I don’t know him. We were both in the same awards ceremony – the same room we both won awards in the summer.

“But that’s as far as our relationship goes. I am excited to go up against him.

“I know it’s going to be very, very difficult but from what he’s achieved at Liverpool, what he did at Dortmund, magnificent.

“One of the world’s best coaches and that’s the lure of the Premier League, the excitement of going up against the world’s best coaches. One way or another, I will learn.”

Having had less than two full days to work with his charges, Jones insisted he would not be able to deliver any “ground-breaking” alterations with his Saints squad.

He is however eager to see an “uplift in energy” at Anfield.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday, Jones said: “Obviously here, I can’t do ground-breaking work in basically a day, because yesterday (Thursday) we couldn’t because of the game Wednesday and the amount of people that played in the game.

“Yesterday was a recovery day anyway, so I only get today (Friday) to work with them, there won’t be a categorical shift in how Southampton play.

“What it will be is I hope an uplift in energy. I hope they work for the club and work for me.

“It’s one of the toughest places in Europe to go, Anfield, but what a great start. That’s what I think you have to embrace.

“You can be scared by it, you can be excited by it or you can be motivated by it - I am definitely one of those (motivated).”

A point on Merseyside could be enough to haul Saints out of the Premier League’s bottom three.

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