JAN Bednarek has urged his Saints teammates to approach every match "like it’s the last game of our careers" as they gear up for a crunch clash at Sheffield United.

Following a 1-0 defeat at Everton on Monday night, Saints are still left looking over their shoulders towards the Premier League's relegation zone.

Ralph Hasenhuttl's men have now lost eight and drawn one of their past nine top-flight fixtures, leaving them seven points above 18th-placed Fulham with 12 games to play.

Saturday presents a big chance to end that winless run, when Saints head to Bramall Lane to face a Sheffield United side staring relegation in the face, cut adrift at the foot of the table.

Asked if that game has now taken on extra significance following the side's recent run, Bednarek told the Daily Echo: "Every game at the moment is massive for us. Every game is a final for us.

"Every game we have to play like it’s the last game of our careers. We have to recover. We have a few days to recover and let’s go for a win on Saturday."

While Saints have been decimated by injuries in recent weeks, Bednarek has been a staple of the side, playing every minute since early November aside from the final four at Old Trafford, where he was sent off during the 9-0 defeat against Manchester United. That red card was subsequently rescinded.

And the Poland international admits it has been a difficult period for the squad.

"It’s tough for us. It’s an intense time. I think all of the season is intense," said Bednarek.

"There are many games in a short period of time, but we have to work hard, we have to be really professional and recover as good as we can and then hopefully we will avoid injuries."

A hamstring problem for Kyle Walker-Peters in recent weeks has also seen Bednarek switched out of his preferred position, filling in at right-back.

The 24-year-old said: "It’s not my position, but I’ll do everything I can for the team.

"I’ll work hard for the team. If the manager needs me there, I will do that.

"But obviously I feel the most comfortable as a centre-back and that’s my position."

Assessing the team's poor run of form, Bednarek added: "It’s tough because we can’t create and we can’t have a clean sheet.

"It’s a tough moment for us but we have to stick together as a team, we have to work hard and that’s how we will get this result as soon as possible.

"We have to work even harder. We have to dig deeper and hopefully as soon as possible we will get the next result.

"It’s frustrating but we have to stick together as a team. We have to believe in ourselves and that’s it."