The Saints board are growing increasingly concerned about the prospect of relegation with the club failing to win since September 1.
And Hughes could find himself out of a job if his side fall to defeat to fellow strugglers Fulham on Saturday.
The Mail say officials at St Mary's believe they made a mistake last season in backing then manager Mauricio Pellegrino for too long when results were not good enough.
That saw them turn to Hughes late on in the campaign, when the club just about did enough to avoid the drop down into the Championship.
With Fulham acting last week by bringing in Claudio Ranieri to replace Slavisa Jokanovic to save their season, Saints have been forced to look at their own situation.
They believe keeping faith with Pellegrino until March last season was a mistake, and do not want to delay for so long should the need arise this time round.
That stance puts huge pressure on Hughes, 55, to deliver a victory this weekend to keep the club outside the bottom three in the table.
Despite saving the club from the drop having been given eight games to make an impact last season, the former Wales boss is being scrutinised closely.
They are only outside the bottom three on goal difference having won just once in the league all season.
At the root of their problems has been the failure to score – Hughes has seen his side hit the back of the net only eight times all campaign.
Only Huddersfield have scored fewer goals, and with the defence one of the worst in the division that is a recipe for trouble.
His position has only been weakened by the club's decision so sack football director Les Reed earlier this month.
Reed was the man who appointed Hughes and was his closest ally on the Saints board.
With him now out of the picture, the decisions Hughes makes against Fulham will be examined closely – as will the performance of the players.
Fulham go into the match hoping for a bounce in form following the arrival of Ranieri, and they can leapfrog Saints in the table with a win.
That would leave the South Coast club languishing on eight points from their opening 13 matches – with a difficult December ahead when they face Tottenham, Manchester United and Manchester City.
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