NATHAN Jones admitted Saints supporters “won’t just forget about” poor results and performances in his opening weeks as manager but claimed the team can change perceptions with wins.

The Welshman wants that to start this weekend with a victory at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park in the FA Cup, which he admits is “not an easy cup draw”.

The South London ground played host to one of the more poignant moments in the downfall of former manager Ralph Hasenhuttl, after Saints visited on the back of a win at AFC Bournemouth in October.

The opportunity was present for a redeeming run of form but after a dismal first half, in which the Austrian refused to change defensive midfielder Ibrahima Diallo despite clear signs his starting system was not working, they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat.

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His sacking came a week later, in November, following a home hammering to Newcastle United – but Hasenhuttl’s successor takes Saints to Patrick Vieira’s Eagles already under similar amounts of pressure.

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“They won’t forget about it, they won’t just forget about it,” Jones insisted when asked by the press what he and Saints can do to ease supporters’ concerns after a deafening chorus of boos at full-time of the defeat to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.

“They’ll need to see a performance and something to get behind, that’s what we have to do. That’s building a performance, putting out the team to do that and then we can start to change perceptions,” he added.

“At the minute, that is tough to do. They won’t forget about this performance but we have to make steps to change it.

“It’s not an easy cup draw and then it’s another tough cup draw against Manchester City on Wednesday so they come thick and fast. We have to make sure we’re ready and that’s through work.”

Jones, who has been in the job for four Premier League games – and four Premier League defeats – as well as a scrappy EFL Cup victory over Lincoln City in eight weeks as manager, was asked if he has enjoyed his first experience as a top-flight boss.

“I’ll enjoy it more when we win a game, that’s the thing,” he admitted.

“Players would enjoy working because we’re good people, we’re disciplined and pretty regimented in how we work, so you would have to ask them.

“I’ve watched pretty much 12 of the first 15 games and I got interviewed for the job so we know exactly what the deficiencies are, defensively we are better than what we have been.

“It’s an error at the minute but we’re not clinging on at the minute, with the greatest respect they’ve been losing games for a long, long time and we have to change that.”

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