Goals from Chris Brunt, newcomer Marc-Antoine Fortune and Robert Koren moved Albion off the bottom and level on points with Boro who ended the game with 10 men after the second half red card of Didier Digard.

Boro chairman Steve Gibson has given his backing to Southgate but the former England defender is taking nothing for granted.

Southgate said: "Steve is a ruthless businessman. If he thinks there needs to be change, he will make change. We had a similar run to this last year.

"I could have no complaints if he did that (make a change) based on the results we have had.

"The circumstances we are in as a club, and the things we've worked on together, lead me to believe he is totally supportive of what we are doing.

"But you have to accept as a manager, and the nature of the industry, that change can happen anytime and I don't sit here thinking 'I'm bullet-proof.'

"I will continue to give every ounce of energy to this club until someone tells me otherwise."

Southgate felt his side's level of defending and poor finishing led to their downfall but he has urged the squad to stay strong at this testing time.

He said: "We have been beaten 3-0 at the bottom team and how we come through this is the important thing. We understand the spotlight will be on us. Everyone will be asking plenty of questions about us.

"We have to stand strong, we have to take the criticism, and we have to respond with what we do on the field. We have to stand firm as a group.

"Everyone has got to look at themselves first and then the overall picture of what needs to improve.

"We can't hide from the fact we've gone 10 league games without a win but these are some of the challenges you face in football and you have to get on with it.

"We have got to get a win. This was a good opportunity. We didn't play with a lack of confidence in the first half.

"But we weren't good enough in certain areas of the field and we have to rectify that. We didn't defend well enough and we didn't take our chances."

West Brom boss Tony Mowbray - a former Boro skipper during a 12-year stint with the Teessiders - is refusing to get carried away with the Baggies moving off the bottom for the first time since early November.

And he accepted that his side had the rub of the green after seeing Afonso Alves spurn a host of chances.

He said: "We are off the bottom but getting out of the bottom three is a more crucial psychological barrier to overcome and we are going to have win a few more games to make that happen.

"In Premier League games you have to win back to back games to get out of trouble. No-one at our club is thinking we have achieved anything.

"We have given ourselves a chance by bringing the rest of the league back towards us a little bit and we will enjoy the second half of the season.

"There are some fixtures we can look forward with, total respect to them, against the likes of Sunderland, Newcastle, Wigan and Bolton, the sort of teams who are in and around us.

"They have all still to come to the Hawthorns and they are games, if we are right on the day, we can win."

Mowbray added: "We are delighted with the result. It was a big game for both clubs. Sometimes games of football can run for you - and I think today ran for us a little bit.

"Middlesbrough deserve a lot of credit for the way they played, particularly in the first half. You could see the quality footballers they have got and we were hanging in there a little bit during that time.

"They had the extra man in midfield and when you have got quality players in midfield, they can give you problems and they did that in the first half.

"In the second half, we sorted it out a little bit better and then came the sending-off and ultimately the game was finished.

"We could have scored a few more goals at the end which would have been harsh on them but we are happy with the three points and the result.

"We have had many a game this season when we have played particularly well and got nothing."