Wanderers are down but they are refusing to be ruled out of the Premiership reckoning.

Colin Todd's bravehearts, relegated for the second time after just one season in the top flight, are determined to bounce back again.

"Everything is in place for a swift return," local hero Jimmy Phillips said reassuringly after defeat at Chelsea brought a shattering end to the brave survival bid.

"It's too early to be looking at next season but we are in a much better position than last time from the point of view of the players we have, the experience we've gained and the new stadium.

"We bounced back with lesser quality players last time and did it convincingly. So there's no reason why we can't do it again. That's got to be the aim."

Wanderers were effectively just 17 minutes away from pulling off the Great Escape. But goals from player manager Gianluca Vialli and Jody Morris gave the European Cup Winners Cup Finalists a 2-0 win and, combined with Everton's 1-1 home draw with Coventry, sent Todd's survival squad down on goal difference!

Results in the last quarter of the season - five wins and a draw in their last 10 games - have been both encouraging and frustrating, as Phillips acknowledged: "The fact that we have had a run of results that would have put us in the top five or six in the Premiership makes it even more annoying that we've gone down.

"Last time we were in the Premiership we were getting hammerings, this time there's only been one really bad game at home and perhaps a couple away. We've matched the opposition in many games but not got the points we've needed.

"I think the fact that the Chelsea fans were cheering us on to get a goal at the end was a tribute to how well we have played. It was a nice tribute but we'd rather have had the point."

Per Frandsen, who joins up with the Denmark World Cup squad next Monday, says Wanderers don't deserve to go down considering the effort they have put in. He believes they can bounce back once more but he fears they may lose players in the summer.

Alan Thompson has already been strongly touted as a target for Premiership clubs - among them Aston Villa - while Todd could find it difficult to hang on to the likes of Nathan Blake, Mark Fish and even Frandsen himself.

"Hopefully we will be able to keep the team together," the Dane said, "but it's going to be very difficult."

Frandsen described relegation as "The worst day in my football career.

"I didn't think it was going to be that hard. It might have been different if we'd been played off the pitch but we deserved to win the game. We had our chances in the first half but we didn't take them. That's the story of our season.

"We are a very good team and play some very good football and we don't deserve this. We haven't done enough because we have been relegated but we have done enough in terms of effort. We have worked very hard."

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