Jones reveals why Mislav Orsic may have to wait for Southampton debut

The Croatian international with over 150 professional goals to his name was confirmed as the first signing of the Jones era on Friday, ahead of the club’s trip to Crystal Palace.

Orsic was not involved as Saints secured a 2-1 win in the FA Cup third round clash at Selhurst Park – and they face even tougher opposition in Manchester City on Wednesday in the EFL Cup.

Supporters might get a first view of Orsic in that last eight meeting versus the Premier League champions, but Jones eased expectations on the new arrival after a lengthy World Cup campaign.

READ MORE: Jones details transfer plans with hopes for 'three or four real quality' signings

“It might be a little bit soon because of where he is because his last game was in the third and fourth playoff, where he scored the winner,” Jones said.  

“And then he’s been given a little bit of time off and he's just gotten up to pace at Dinamo Zagreb and with the greatest respect the intensity of a Premier League game or a game against Man City is slightly different from what he would have been used to there.

“So we have to be very careful with him because the last thing we want to do is pushing early and then he breaks down and then we don't see him. We have to build these players up, and I know people sometimes get frustrated and I'm not one for giving explanations about everything we do.”

He added: “But you know, certain people don't start or don't play not because they're bad players or we don't trust them, but there's a lot that goes on in football club in a week.

“You know, and a lot that we have to do and some people don't realize that, and they’ll take the frustrations out on a manager or situations for example, but there's real context. Sometimes that needs to be said.”

It took just six days of the January window for Sport Republic to haul their first signing over the line, while Jones insists he would like three or four quality players to be added this month.

Saints sit bottom of the Premier League after 12 points from 18 matches, and six league losses in succession including a dismal defeat to relegation rivals Nottingham Forest midweek.

“We'd like to get it (the deal for Orsic) done even earlier. We tend to be very structured in recruitment at every club I've been at, we’ve known months in advance what we go for,” Jones admitted.  

“I've only been in the building a couple of months but it's really good to get an athlete, the character and an international quality player through the door you know, so we thank the board and Sport Republic and Rasmus (Ankersen) for the work they've done on that but there is still a long way to go.

“We still need a bit more help. We want to bring in a bit more experience to give us an opportunity to build and then to give these young wonderful players an opportunity to flourish.

“We’ve added a lot of international experience and quality, pace, aggression, things that we really want to be speaking about. It's one of, we hope, a few because we need a bit of help in terms of quality and pace.

“We need a bit of experience because you’ve got to remember this is a young group, a really, really young group. We've got some wonderfully talented young players but they need time, so while they are gathering the experience and the know-how then we need a bit of experience in.”

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