Nathan Jones insists he was not trying to shift the blame after recent Southampton loss

Nathan Jones believes he is the right man to keep Southampton in the Premier League despite them currently being bottom of the table.

After last weekend’s 3-0 loss to Brentford, Jones admitted that he has “compromised certain principles” for Southampton’s poor form since he took over in November.

A fans’ forum earlier this week highlighted the strength of feeling against Jones, but he was given backing by the club’s hierarchy.

“It’s why I came here because they see substance not other things,” Jones told a press conference. “I’m disappointed with the results we’ve had.

“But I know we’re doing good work behind the scenes. I know we run a football club really well, I know we develop individuals, I know we do good work, I know we’re thorough, I know we’re tactically good. It’s just, if you don’t get results, it’s very hard to back that up.”

On his post-match comments and accusations he was looking to shift the blame, Jones said: “I wasn’t doing that at all, in fact, I was doing the categorical opposite.

“I was accepting responsibility for all the results. What I said was I’ve compromised certain things I do on a day-to-day basis, which are my decisions. I don’t get pressured by anyone. I listen to people but I have made decisions here and I live and die by my decisions.”

Southampton sit bottom of the table, four points adrift of safety, and face a huge match at home on Saturday against 15th-placed Wolves.

Asked if he felt the contest would be make or break for his position, Jones said: “I don’t know, I can’t answer that question. All I’m going to do is concentrate on trying to win a football game. I know there’s been a lot of speculation, a lot of outside noise and so on, but I can’t affect that.”

Southampton have won only four league matches this season, one since Jones took charge, but he insists he can keep them up.

“I genuinely believe that I can,” he said. “What we have to do is make sure we get results and get results quickly. We’ve been very close on a number of occasions but we have to really focus on this weekend and make sure we get the result.”

Jones did not go into detail on what he felt he had compromised, but said of this week’s work: “I’ve just gone back to basics, I’ve gone back to what I’ve normally done. When I’m saying compromised, just a few day-to-day things which normally I do differently.”

The 49-year-old Welshman said he would not allow the…