1,000 reasons for Saints to worry
The match between the two clubs will be Ferguson’s 1000th league game in charge of the Red Devils, with the 70-year-old collecting no fewer than 37 major trophies during his time at Old Trafford.
Adkins, 47, reckons a managerial spell like Ferguson’s will never be seen again in the modern era.
“I think it is going to be a one-off, when you look at it realistically,” he said.
“Demands are placed in the modern game now for someone to stay at a football club for so long.
“But if you look at the success they have had and the stability it has provided — the successful clubs probably have a consistent basis so maybe it is possible and that is the way to go.”
Ferguson, meanwhile, has confirmed Wayne Rooney’s lack of fitness was the reason behind his omission from the Manchester United side last weekend.
The nasty gash Rooney suffered in the 3-2 win over Fulham and which threatens to rule the striker out for a month obscured his failure to make the Red Devils starting line-up.
Instead, Ferguson preferred new-boys Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa. With both scoring, it seems unlikely Rooney would have forced his way into the team at Southampton tomorrow either. Now the decision does not have to be made.
However, Ferguson did not do much to undermine rumours of his discontent at the condition Rooney returned to training in as he explained the reasoning behind what admittedly was “not an easy decision” for the United boss.
“Wayne’s a bit behind other players, in terms of fitness,” said Ferguson. “He needs a few games. I wanted to play van Persie at Old Trafford, although I knew he wasn’t 100% fit either.
“I’d have rather taken him off with 20 minutes to go. It was only because we lost the second goal that I was forced to leave him on.
“It wasn’t an easy choice to leave Wayne out because he is a very good player who can score you goals.”
Rooney has confirmed there is no rift between him and Ferguson, leaving him free to get on with the business of getting fit.
And despite the severity of the striker’s injury, the United boss insists the four week timescale he outlined on Saturday has not changed.
“He was in yesterday,” he said. “It’s nothing serious on the actual gash — it’s a bad one but it was treated carefully and very quickly and we don’t expect complications.
“The fact it’s a gash and not a ligament, muscle or joint injury means he can do a lot of work in the gym so he should be back in four weeks.”
While Ferguson didn’t add to his squad on transfer deadline day, some fans still believe United are lacking a physical presence in central midfield.
Overall, though, it seems Ferguson has bought well.
Kagawa has been particularly impressive following his £17m (€21.4m) move from German champions Borussia Dortmund. The 23-year-old has not been fazed by joining a club the size of United and revelled in the space just behind van Persie against Fulham.
“We looked at Kagawa a lot,” said Ferguson.
“In his first season at Dortmund he did very well, which was a surprise because he seemed to come from nowhere.
“Last season there was more authority in his game and his goal-scoring was good from that position.
“He was absolutely magnificent when I went to see him in the German cup final against Bayern Munich.
“His movement and awareness of the space in front of him were fantastic.
“He did everything we were looking for and that’s why we moved for him.”
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