Pellegrini's future has been a topic of discussions since Monday's second-half capitulation at home to Arsenal and reports have suggested he will lose his job with another defeat at St Mary's on Saturday.

"All of us know we need a result," he said. "We have just five points from the last nine games in the league.

"We need to return to be a solid and consistent team like we did against Chelsea (1-0 win), the way we did for 60 minutes against Arsenal.

"You must be worried because the points that we have are not enough for this team."

The inconsistent form of Felipe Anderson and record signing Sebastien Haller has not helped West Ham this season.

Pellegrini's decision to bring off Brazilian Anderson in Monday's 3-1 defeat to Arsenal was roundly booed at London Stadium.

Haller, meanwhile, started on the bench and the experienced boss knows he must start getting the best out of his most players.

"I always think as a manager that the results of the team depends on the individual performance of a player," Pellegrini added.

"After that you can work a lot on tactical, physical and technical work but the players decide the games.

"Of course when you have your important players not in their best moment, the results of the team will not be good.

"You must find why they are not in that moment and try to work with them and give them confidence and I hope that most of them will return as soon as possible to their normal performance."

In Southampton, West Ham will be taking on a team who have enjoyed an upturn in form of late – winning two of their last three games.

Pellegrini said: "Most teams in the Premier League this season have had bad moments when they have had bad results in a row, not only Southampton and West Ham.

"Southampton is a good team, with good players as have all the other teams. You must be very concentrated in defending and try to score from the beginning to win. It will be a tough game."

West Ham will continue to be without Lukasz Fabianski (torn hip muscle), Manuel Lanzini (fractured collarbone) and Jack Wilshere (groin) for the trip to the south coast.