Reading manager Steve Coppell admitted he was surprised their victory over Derby had not been enough to keep them in the Barclays Premier League.
Despite demolishing the Rams 4-0 at Pride Park the Royals will still be joining them, along with Birmingham, in the Coca-Cola Championship next season following Fulham's 1-0 win at Portsmouth.
The Cottagers' superior goal difference was all that separated the two sides after 38 matches, with both finishing on 36 points.
Coppell paid tribute to the recent form of Roy Hodgson's side who pulled off an unlikely escape by winning four of their last five games - crucially, one of them at the Madejski Stadium.
However, the Royals boss conceded he had not expected them to win against FA Cup finalists Portsmouth at Fratton Park.
"I thought if we had got three points here it would be enough," he said.
"At the end of it all, you have to give huge respect to Roy (Hodgson) and Fulham. We wouldn't have been looking forward to going to Portsmouth today.
"I don't know how they have played but, whatever, Fulham had to go there and get a result and that was to their credit. The run they have had has been brilliant."
The carnival atmosphere in the away end soon soured when the dreaded news of a Fulham goal filtered through, although Coppell was proud his side at least did their job.
"I have been in these situations before. As soon as I heard the Derby fans singing it was pretty obvious what was going on," he said.
"From my point of view as I have said all this week all we could do was win our game and trust in the integrity of the league. The only thing we could control was winning the game."
But Coppell, Royals boss since 2003, refused to be drawn on whether he would still be in charge come the start of next season.
"I have got to look at things," he added. "It's too close (after the game) now. I have a huge affection for this club and I want to do what I think is right for this club."
The defeat ensured the Rams became only the second team in the history of English football to win just once in an entire league season - the first was Loughborough College 108 seasons ago.
They can also add the unwanted record of lowest goals tally to earliest relegation and smallest points total in Premier League history.
Boss Paul Jewell said: "We have played three Championship clubs since the start of us being in the Premier League: Blackpool, who we beat 3-0, Sheffield Wednesday took us to a draw and we beat them on penalties and Preston murdered us 4-1.
"All of those teams never got out of the bottom seven or eight of the Championship so if we had to go to battle with this group of players next year we would have another relegation fight on our hands.
"But luckily enough the season is finished and I am going to change the whole mentality and, from what I've seen today and most of the season, the players."
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