Nathan Jones has admitted that he is 'not the biggest name' that Southampton could have appointed as their new manager, but he is confident in his ability to succeed at St Mary's.
The 49-year-old was officially unveiled as Southampton's new boss on Wednesday, following the dismissal of Ralph Hasenhuttl on Monday.
The Saints moved quickly to appoint Jones on a three-and-a-half year deal, with the Welshman leaving Championship outfit Luton Town after nearly five years across two successful spells at the club.
Jones has confessed that working in the Premier League is a "massive pull" but the project that Southampton intend to build under his tutelage was also a big factor in his decision to join the club.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Saturday's Premier League encounter against Liverpool at Anfield, Jones said: "The excitement levels were very high. With the job I had at Luton, of course you want to check on the project first. The Premier League is a massive pull.
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"I had an amazing job at Luton – it wasn't just a case of coming straightaway, I had to do research and find out why me. The allure of it wasn't just the Premier League, Southampton's lovely stadium and beautiful training ground.
"The allure was the fact that what Sport Republic (Southampton's owners) want to build here is parallel to a lot of the metrics I used at Luton. They were specific in that. And that was the big thing for me, to not just be in the Premier League, because you might not last long, and then it's not a great move.
"But here it's something specific they want to build. They'd looked at a lot of people and with the greatest respects, I came out high on their list in terms of what they wanted to build."
Jones has taken over a Saints outfit who currently sit 18th and in the Premier League relegation zone after winning only three of their 14 games this season, and the Welshman is aware of the challenges he now faces in his new role.
"We have to get results. [The hierarchy] look deeper than results," Jones added. "We have blocks of games where we debrief and we could have won six games, but they'll look back on metrics and say, 'Look we've been lucky in those games'.
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"They aren't just going to put up with any result we get. They are going to dissect things. They want substance.
"With the greatest respect, let's address the elephant in the room, I'm not the biggest name they could have gone for, but the substance is in the work. That is what gave me the confidence to choose to come here.
"There's a young hungry athletic team here. That's my track record: working with young hungry players, develop them into even better individuals and mould the team while you do that."
Asked about the player's reaction to his appointment, Jones said: "I think really positive. I've not done anything ground-breaking. I addressed them and asked for a few key things. We'll build relationships, they won't love me after a day.
"I left a group that knew I cared about them and dedicated my life to making them better and that's what I'll do here."
Southampton will move out of the bottom three if they secure at least a point against Liverpool, and if 17th-placed Bournemouth lose at home against Everton.
Oliver Thomas
