Sam Allardyce warns his West Bromwich players that relegation may see club staff losing their jobs

Sam Allardyce has warned his West Bromwich players that relegation is likely to mean club staff losing their jobs.

Albion face Southampton on Monday aiming to win successive league games for the first time this season following their shock 5-2 triumph at Chelsea last weekend.

But Newcastle’s victory at Burnley leaves Albion facing a huge task to stay up. They are 11 points adrift of Steve Bruce’s side — who are one place above the relegation zone — with only eight games left.

Sam Allardyce warns West Bromwich players that relegation may mean club staff lose jobs

‘The people who would lose their jobs are what the players are responsible for — not just their own livelihood but other people’s livelihoods,’ said Allardyce.

‘It’s the club’s consequences and the people who work here — the offloading and redundancies that would happen. Cutbacks are devastating for a club that is relegated. I experienced it when I went to West Ham in 2011 after they had been relegated. I had to overcome all that devastation of relegation.

‘People who had been at the club for years, losing their job through no fault of their own because the players had failed to stay in the Premier League.

West Bromwich Albion completed a shock 5-2 triumph at Chelsea last weekend

They will aim to win successive league games for the first time this term against Southampton

‘That is not what I want to happen here. Players have that responsibility as well as the responsibility for themselves and their families.’

Allardyce took over at the Hawthorns when Slaven Bilic was sacked in November and, though he has made Albion more solid, they have lacked the quality in attack to haul themselves clear of trouble.

They have scored only 25 goals this season, eight of which came in two games against Chelsea.

Callum Robinson is likely to start the match against Southampton after scoring twice at Stamford Bridge.

The forward spoke to police last week after he suffered racist abuse via social media.

Allardyce took over at the Hawthorns when Slaven Bilic was sacked in November

They have scored only 25 goals this season, eight of which came in two games against Chelsea

Allardyce added: ‘We need to maintain that killer instinct we showed against Chelsea. I’d hate to come off on Monday night saying again that it’s another missed chance — it needs to be a consistent level of performance and victories from now on.

‘We battered Chelsea, we destroyed what they thought they were. We tore them apart.

‘I want to see back-to-back wins, which we’ve failed to do for the entire season. Our challenge is to follow it up against Southampton if we are to stay in this division.’