Newcastle United players Paul Dummett and Jamal Lascelles were left "gutted" after the club were relegated from the Premier League.
Newcastle were confined to the drop on Wednesday without kicking a ball following Sunderland's 3-0 win over Everton at the Stadium of Light.
With just one game left in the season, Newcastle sit 18th in the table - four points behind 17th-placed Sunderland.
It is just the second time Newcastle have been relegated in the Premier League era after they also faced the drop in 2008-09, however they achieved immediate promotion by winning the Championship the following season.
Dummett - who came through the Newcastle youth academy - was left disappointed by the news but insisted the club will make a return to the top-tier of English football, writing via Twitter: "Absolutely gutted. We will be back."
Absolutely gutted. We will be back May 11, 2016
Newcastle team-mate Lascelles - who came to prominence in the second-half of the season with a number of consecutive starts - also posted some words of encouragement to the fans via his Twitter account, saying: "Absolutely gutted! But we have to pick up and start again to come back stronger."
Absolutely gutted! But we have to pick up and start again to come back stronger May 11, 2016
