Albion manager Tony Mowbray has warned his players he will hold them to their Hawthorns contracts this summer.

The straight-talking Baggies boss insists none of his stars will force their way out of The Hawthorns – and he will tell any want-away players they have a duty to take the club back to the Premier League.

Mowbray has often been keen to offload unhappy squad members.

But he maintains players will not be allowed use that policy to agitate for transfers if the club’s likely relegation is confirmed.

He said: “Generally I don’t keep unhappy players. But there is unhappy, and there is unhappy. Just because somebody says he wants to go, it doesn’t mean he is unhappy.

“It often means his agent has told him to see the gaffer, because he knows a club around the corner that wants him.

“I’ve got to dig deeper, talk to footballers and have conversations to see how unhappy they are. If we say they are not going and it becomes an issue, they won’t go.

“If they don’t want to play, that’s no problem to me, they can come in and train every day.

“That’s not me being hard-line. That’s just life. They are under contract and we all sign contracts in good faith.”

Mowbray is braced for a summer of transfer speculation, despite clear messages from him and the Hawthorns board that his better players will only be sold on the club’s terms.

The Baggies boss is no stranger to unsettling actions by players, after former captain Curtis Davies effectively went on strike over his pending move to Villa in a summer that also saw Diomansy Kamara and Jason Koumas leave for big money.

But, with the return to the Championship likely to be confirmed soon, Mowbray is preparing a clear message for any players who try to engineer moves.

He said: “They are all under contract and the argument is that we’re all in it together.

“It’s down to me ultimately and I have been there before with this club.”