Joseph and Hughes both took advantage of weak defending to make it six wins from Hull’s last nine matches away from the MKM Stadium.

The Tigers were without 11 players for their visit to the south coast but returned to the play-off places, despite Ross Stewart’s consolation.

It meant Southampton boss Tonda Eckert lost at St Mary’s for the first time since replacing Will Still in early November, with his side 10 points shy of the top six.

Southampton’s Daniel Peretz produced a stunning save to keep out a Liam Millar header in the sixth minute, a memorable first moment for the on-loan goalkeeper in front of his new home fans.

But after Hull’s fast start the hosts dominated possession and created a series of high-quality chances.

Championship top-scorer Adam Armstrong latched on to a through-ball by Taylor Harwood-Bellis but could not poke his finish past the imposing Ivor Pandur.

Then a Tom Fellows cross caused mayhem in the Hull area, but Leo Scienza, Caspar Jander – twice – and Finn Azaz were all unable to bundle the ball home from inside the six-yard box.

Centre-back Harwood-Bellis powered a shot on target, but Southampton were made to rue their lack of killer instinct when the visitors took the lead in the 20th minute.

It was a goal of their own making as Ryan Manning misplaced a five-yard pass to Joshua Quarshie to put Oli McBurnie in behind.

The Scotland international beat Peretz to the loose ball to send a pass to Joseph, who placed his finish into the top corner for his seventh goal of the season.

Saints responded with Fellows crashing narrowly over the bar before Harwood-Bellis headed against a post, but more lax defending allowed the Tigers to double their lead.

Amir Hadziahmetovic’s corner was well delivered to the back post, where Hughes was able to beat Nathan Wood and Flynn Downes in the air to head home.

An already disgruntled home crowd responded with chants of “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” and a demand for owners Sports Republic to “get out”. Those chants turned to boos at half-time.

The bad mood leaked into the second half – despite Eckert changing to a more popular four-man defence – and was not improved by Armstrong failing to hit the target with two chances.

When winger Fellows was withdrawn in the 67th minute the fans turned their ire on Eckert, with chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing”.

But Fellows’ replacement Stewart pulled one back four minutes later when he prodded in Scienza’s in-swinging cross in a rare second-half chance.

But it could not save Southampton from a seventh league match without a win or more boos on the final whistle.

The only negative for Hull was having assistant manager Marko Salatovic was sent to the stands in stoppage time.