James Morrison today told Albion’s players they must stick around to return the Baggies to the Premier League if they are relegated this season.

The star midfielder insists Tony Mowbray’s men can still win their fight against the drop.

But he says they would have a duty to help the Baggies return to the top flight if they find themselves in the Championship next season. “I’ve got enough on my hands trying to stay in the league and that’s all I’m thinking about at the moment,” said Morrison, whose starring performances this season have earned rave reviews and a £3m January bid from Bolton.

“People wouldn’t be happy going back down, but it would our fault if we did. We are the ones who go on the pitch, and, if we are down there, we’ve got to prove we are good enough to get back up.”

Baggies fans saw their team broken up a year after their last relegation from the Championship with Jason Koumas, Diomansy Kamara and Curtis Davies among the big-name players to move on.

But the club are confident they could keep the current team together if they were relegated this season. Fending off interest in Morrison could be their toughest task with others sure to have joined Bolton in keeping tabs on his progress.

“The interest was flattering,” he said. “It’s always nice when someone sees the progress you’re making and wants you. But I didn’t want to go and the club didn’t want me to go, so that was the end of it.

“I think it boosted me, if anything. That’s when I started playing really well and I scored at Villa and then I got injured, so that prevented me striding on.”