When relegated Manchester City complete their last match of the season against Chelsea on Saturday, Shaun Goater will no longer be a Premier League player.

And the Bermudian striker, who plied his trade in the lower leagues for more than a decade before finally earning his chance to play in England's top flight, is finding a swift return to Division One a bitter pill to swallow.

Just over a week after the 2-1 defeat at Ipswich which sealed City's fate, Goater told The Royal Gazette the pain of relegation was yet to fully sink in.

"I'm still sort of digesting it,'' said Goater. "It's hard to get your head around it.

"After I tried for 12 years to get into the Premiership, it's a bit of a blow to go down again when I've only played half a season.

"But now we've got to look to the future and trying to get back. The Premiership is everything.'' Goater put City ahead at Ipswich with just 16 minutes left in a match they had to win to keep alive their hopes of staying up.

But he was injured in scoring the goal and hobbled off the field moments later. Ipswich equalised rapidly and then grabbed a late winner.

Goater said that night at Portman Road had been his worst experience in soccer.

"When I went off, I had not even gone up the tunnel when they (Ipswich) scored,'' said Goater. "I felt the pain of the injury a lot more, knowing that they had scored and there was nothing that I could do about it.

"After the game, (manager) Joe Royle came in the dressing room and started talking, but I didn't hear him.

"Everything's running through your head, you're just thinking we are relegated. I could not recall anything the manager said.

"It was a long journey home, a three-hour journey, and no-one said much. All there was going through your head was that we've been relegated.'' Goater said he was fit and ready to play in City's farewell to the top flight at Maine Road on Saturday. Although City will be playing solely for pride, Goater felt the home fans would not allow the Chelsea match to be a flat occasion.

"The City fans are the best I've ever seen and at Ipswich they sang right through the game,'' said Goater. "No matter what the result is, they are letting people know they are City through and through. And I think the reception we will get from them on Saturday will show that.'' Goater even rated City's faithful as better supporters than those from the red side of Manchester.

"When we went to Old Trafford, they (United) got 60,000-plus there, but they only started singing when they went ahead, in the last 20 minutes,'' said Goater.

"I was a bit surprised by how quiet they were. I started thinking, `Would you rather play in front of 60,000 like that or 33,000 who sing their hearts out every week?''' Goater would like to play on Saturday, but said the line-up could be an experimental one.

"With the situation, no-one knows who will start,'' he said. "One or two youngsters might be given a game. We're just training on and hoping we are chosen -- I'm certainly hoping to get chosen.'' With three years left on his City contract, Goater is now preparing to spearhead a promotion campaign next season.

"I think we have a good chance of coming straight back up, but it depends what happens with the team, who we decide to keep and who we bring in,'' he said. "Whatever, I think we will be strong contenders.'' Shaun Goater: Devastated.