Ralph Hasenhuttl will today take charge of his first Saints training session.

The Austrian was yesterday confirmed as Saints’ new manager and watched from the stands as his new team took on Tottenham at Wembley last night.

After returning home in the early hours the squad would normally come in for a gentle recovery session in the morning, but Hasenhuttl has rescheduled it for the afternoon in a bid to get the players a little fresher and start working through his ideas with them.

He will then only have more session with the team tomorrow before they travel to Wales to take on Cardiff on Saturday.

Hasenhuttl has signed a two-and-half-year deal to take over from Mark Hughes, who was sacked on Monday with Saints having won just one league game all season.

The new boss, who will also face the media for the fist time today, will be assisted by existing coaching staff members Kelvin Davis and Dave Watson as well as head of sports science Alek Gross.

Hasenhuttl will also bring in one of his own members of staff with that appointment set to be confirmed in the coming days.

In a statement, Saints chairman Ralph Krueger said: “The urgency to find a path back to our potential and to the results that we expect cannot be underestimated. For that reason, we are extremely pleased that Ralph Hasenhüttl has agreed to become our new manager and do all he can to help guide us back on that path.

“This manager change offers us a fresh start and, very quickly, Ralph emerged as our ideal candidate. As a coach, he embodies the passion, structure, communication skill set, work ethic and appetite for growth that we strive for in our Southampton Way. The quick, smooth and seamless negotiation process underlines the character of the person that he is.

“We have been aware of Ralph since his days at FC Ingolstadt, where he showed the qualities that we believe we need at the club. He has since gone on to develop those attributes with a track-record of success in the Bundesliga and with a progressive and ambitious club in RB Leipzig.

“As soon as we met, Ralph’s enthusiasm for football was contagious and his hunger to take on a new and challenging job in the Premier League was evident. In our discussions, he very quickly aligned himself with the values and the vision of the club.

“Southampton Football Club’s past success was built on a clear identity. The foundation of this identity was a focus on developing players, whether from within our academy or after joining from other clubs. Ralph’s ability to teach the game and to develop talent is evident in his past and is a centrepiece of why he is the perfect choice to be the new Saints manager.”