Nathan Jones expects Southampton to show 'seeds' of hard work in Carabao Cup clash

Nathan Jones will hope his early efforts will be rewarded when his Southampton side take on League 1 side Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup.

Jones was announced as Ralph Hasenhuttl's successor at Southampton just days before the World Cup break. His only game in charge to date was their 3-1 loss to Liverpool.

The former Luton boss will have the chance to introduce himself to home fans on Tuesday as Southampton take on Lincoln for a place in the Carabao Cup last eight.

"They're a group that want to improve and that's the best thing a manager can have," Jones said of a team he got to know under the unusual circumstances of mid-season.

"There are some things we need to improve since the first half of the season, and since we have been working with them.

"I wanted to take small steps quickly, and hopefully we did that in the four weeks we had to work with them. Hopefully we'll see some kind of seeds of that (against Lincoln).

"We have just finished the week of a World Cup and normally you think "it's July and where are you going to spend your holidays?"

"But it's a cup game, a really exciting week with my first two home games, and it won't be long before Santa Claus is here."

Jones gave his team time out after the game against Liverpool before returning to training, which included a week in Spain.

Southampton have prepared for their return to competition by playing friendlies behind closed doors and beat Bournemouth 2-0 in one such game last weekend.

Jones said: "I'm a winner, I want to win games and for us to have that mentality.

“Whether or not we want to win this cup match and I would like it to be an entertaining performance.

"It may not be that, but the important thing is that we take a positive step."

Jones has promised to treat the Carabao Cup with the "utmost respect" ahead of Southampton's return to the Premier League against Brighton on Boxing Day.

Lincoln stunned Bristol City at Ashton Gate in the final round and has featured five times since Southampton lost at Anfield.

Jones said: "I took Championship teams to Premier League teams, got it right and tried to cause upset.

"I've done it many times, even when I was in League 1 and League 2. I went to Newcastle, Leeds and Aston Villa and really wanted to cause an upset.

"Lincoln will be exactly the same. It will be a tough game and if we take it lightly we will be beaten."

Defenders Juan Larios and Tino Livramento remain out, but full-back Kyle Walker-Peters could return after suffering hamstring damage two months ago.

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