Steve Agnew says Middlesbrough dressing room was 'very silent' after Chelsea defeat confirmed relegation

Defeat to Chelsea on Monday night confirmed Middlesbrough's relegation to the Championship

Agnew could not prevent Middlesbrough from sliding into the second-tier (Getty)

Middlesbrough manager Steve Agnew said that his “devastated” dressing room was “very silent” after his side suffered a 3-0 defeat at Chelsea, that finally confirmed their relegation to the Championship.

The north-east club needed at least a draw at Stamford Bridge to avoid going down, but were simply blown away by the league leaders, who now stand just one win from securing the title themselves.

“I mean, everyone is devastated,” Agnew said. “We've worked so hard for a number of years to get back into the Premier League, and we know how tough the Premier League is.

“Obviously we've pulled up short. I've left a very silent dressing-room with everyone, staff and players, absolutely gutted. We can only reflect over the 36 games we've played. We've not won enough games or scored enough goals.”

Agnew only came in as manager after Aitor Karanka was sacked in March, and there remain questions over whether he will continue as manager for next season, but he said it was not the time to discuss that.

“I don't think it's about my situation. It's about the football club. We all know it's a Premier League football club in everything about it – the supporters, the stadium, the training ground, the infra-structure is all there – so the most important thing is to finish the season strongly with two more games to go.

“We have to gain more points to finish strongly, then everything moving forward will be aimed at getting Middlesbrough back into the Premier League as soon as possible.

“We need a performance for the supporters on Saturday [at home to Southampton].”