Southampton have taken ‘massive gamble’ by replacing Mauricio Pellegrino with Mark Hughes so late in the season, says Jason Dodd

JASON DODD says his former club Southampton have taken a "massive gamble" in changing their manager at this stage of the season.

The Saints sacked Mauricio Pellegrino on Monday with the club just a point above the Premier League relegation zone.

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On Wednesday they appointed former Stoke City boss Mark Hughes with just eight games left this season.

Saints legend Dodd, who played 483 matches for the club, told SunSport: "It's strange they've made the decision now.

"It's a massive gamble; they stuck with Pellegrino too long.

"We've now got two winnable games, against Wigan in the FA Cup and West Ham.

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"They might think he can come in and get a really good start.

"But then we've got Arsenal and Chelsea."

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Dodd played alongside Hughes for two seasons - but reckons his former team-mate has his work cut out.

He added: "He's got a couple of days before Wigan but then it's the international break.

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"How many players is he going to have to work with?

"I thought he did well at Stoke, he took them as far as he could.

"Obviously they've struggled a bit this year, but when he took over from Tony [Pulis] he had to change the style of play and he certainly did that. "