Wolves boss Gary O’Neil has dismissed any fears over his job before their crucial game with relegation rivals Southampton.
The Premier League’s bottom two meet on Saturday when Saints visit Molineux with the spotlight on both managers.
With just one win between them from 20 top-flight games this season, rock bottom Wolves sit on three points, with Saints one point above them.
Wolves remain winless, and only five of 18 teams previously without a victory after 10 Premier League games have survived.
Southampton arrive on the back of their first triumph of the season, a 1-0 victory over Everton, while there has been a slight momentum shift at Wolves following draws with Brighton and Crystal Palace.
But the hosts are still searching for an elusive league victory – Ipswich are the only other winless side – and have won just once in their last 20 dating back to last March, although O’Neil has called looking back to last season “irrelevant”.
Their last top-flight clean sheet came 23 games ago in February – and they have conceded a league-high 27 goals – but there is still a sense of perspective at the club given what O’Neil has faced.
Wolves have played seven of the top eight in their opening 10 games and have lost defender Yerson Mosquera to a season-ending knee injury, leaving them short after a failure to replace Max Kilman in the summer.
It would be a reluctant decision to part ways with O’Neil, popular within the club, but with November’s games being against Crystal Palace, Southampton, Fulham and Bournemouth, Wolves need wins if he is going to keep his job.
“My job and my future are the least of my worries,” the 41-year-old said on Friday.
“I don’t ask the club for any backing or support, I’m very comfortable in this seat or on the side of the pitch in whatever situation is thrown at me.
“I’m very comfortable in my own skin and the work which is done here. In difficult situations you find out a lot about people. When there were negative noises [against Palace], I felt really comfortable and backed my own decisions.
“The more difficult it gets the more I’m ready to go. There’s an unbelievable opportunity tomorrow [Saturday] to show what you stand for and who you are when the chips are down.”
That first win could come against Martin’s Southampton, in a game in which there could be goals.
Excluding penalties, both Wolves and Saints are the two worst teams in the league at defending set-pieces. Wolves, who sacked set-piece coach Jack Wilson in October, have conceded nine while Saturday’s visitors have shipped seven.
The hosts have been patient despite their position in the table and Saints are similar, recognising they are not far away from a major breakthrough.
There has been a sense at St Mary’s that they have been competitive – despite the costly errors – and Martin is still within reach of achieving their pre-season aim of survival. After returning to the Premier League in May, perspective still remains at the club.
Saints sit three points from safety, and a second successive victory could lift them to within touching distance of escaping the relegation zone, depending on Crystal Palace’s result at home to Fulham.
Martin said: “When you don’t win, it affects the mood and energy. There is nobody in this room or outside that wants to win more than I do or the players do. That is impossible. I sense a big belief in what we do as a team.
“Whatever the outcome, I really believe if the lads stick to the work with the intensity they played with last week, then we’ll come out of it in a really good place.
“If we don’t, we’ll deal with it and we’ll keep working. In terms of that, a positive performance, a positive result, everyone can go into this last[international] break feeling a bit better about themselves.”
