MARK Hughes is determined to shut out the ‘noise’ as he prepares to return to Fulham for the biggest game of Saints' season.

Lose and Saints will drop into the bottom three, level on points with a Fulham side that is bottom of the table after seven successive defeats.

But Hughes is shrugging off speculation that he will be sacked if Saints are beaten at Craven Cottage.

“There will always be speculation and I call it ‘noise’,” he said. “Once a manager departs after a lot of noise that noise switches to someone else and all the negative stats come out.

“A little bit of the noise is around me at the moment which is the nature of the role that I have. It will go away with a few good results.

“It becomes a little bit predictable and you understand how it works.

“After 20 years doing this job, it’s nothing I haven’t seen and dealt with before. It’s part of the job and doesn’t faze me.

“We’re calm, that’s the key. That’s helped by my demeanour. I don’t feel the need to get panicked because I’m confident in the ability of the group and the club.

“We know what we need to do and we will work hard to make sure they happen.

“We don’t feel here that we are a million miles away from what we need to do.”

Hughes is determined to retain his level-headed approach as he prepares to return to Fulham for only the third time since resigning in 2011, having led them to eighth in the Premier League in his only season at Craven Cottage.

“You don’t get too giddy when you are doing well, and you don’t get too down when things aren’t going your way,” he continued.

“If you are calm and consistent in your messages then the team gets confidence and support from that. We give the players the knowledge they need going into the games.

“They will never say they are lacking in what they need to approach a game.”

Hughes insists Saints’ ongoing internal review, following the departures of Les Reed and Martin Hunter, has not been a distraction.

“We are talking all the time - I’m fully informed,” he continued.

“I think the players just get on with it.

“The club is looking to strengthen the areas that it feels it needs to but it’s not a case of ripping the template up because there is no need to do that.

“A lot of the things they do here are spot on in terms of getting what they need from all elements of the club.

“All we (the leadership) are trying to do is to make us better which is everybody’s aim here.

“That encapsulates the entire club.

“There isn’t a lot that we are doing wrong here but the club felt that we maybe needed to be a little bit more open about things to see if that would help us.”

Saints’ clash at Fulham is the first of five matches in 14 days, four of which are away from home.

“The games are coming thick and fast and I’m actually pleased about it,” continued Hughes.

“With all the international breaks, the first part of the season is very fragmented and it’s difficult to get that continuity and rhythm in your play.

“Some have dealt with it better than us.

“But from our point of view, we have had new players to integrate into the group which has been hampered by the international break.

“What we have got now, thankfully, is a clear run and an opportunity to have a body of work with the group with nobody being away for any length of time.

“That continuity for the next three to four months will be invaluable to us.”