"The worst moment in my time in the game,'' declared a heartbroken Shaun Goater as he reflected on Manchester City's Premiership demise.

Not even a goal from the Bermudian striker could save the Blues from defeat at Ipswich on Monday night -- a loss that consigned them to the drop to Division One after just 12 months in the top flight.

Goater put his side ahead in the second half but was injured in the process and was forced to leave the fray.

He barely had time to put on his tracksuit before City were hit by a sucker punch from Ipswich's Matt Holland and then as they threw everyone forward in search of a lifeline, Martijn Reuser scored a killer second.

City had to win the game if they were to stand any chance of staying up. Three points would have meant they had to beat Chelsea at the weekend and hope that Middlesbrough, the only other team who could have been relegated, failed to pick up a point against West Ham.

However, the writing had been on the Maine Road wall for some time and Goater was realistic enough to know that the season was not lost on Monday night.

"We didn't lose our Premiership fight at Ipswich,'' he told the Manchester Evening News . "We had enough games before that to put things right but we didn't.'' Though he has experienced relegation with City before, when they dropped into Division Two at the end of the 1997/98 season, Goater says nothing could prepare him for how he felt when the final whistle blew against Ipswich.

"It is the worst moment in my 10 or 11 years in the game,'' he said. "I am lost for words and that is not like me.

"An awful lot of work has gone into the last couple of years getting to the Premiership and for it to all end so quickly is really upsetting and mind-numbing.'' Though the dust has yet to settle on this season, Goater is already trying to look to next.

"We have to refresh ourselves in the summer and come back stronger and even more determined,'' he said.

The club's top scorer paid tribute to City's fans who have stuck by the players through thick and thin and are renowned as among the best in England.

"The fans did us proud and they have my condolences. We are very sorry we have let them down in this way and hopefully we can bounce back and give them what they deserve,'' he said.

City's match against Chelsea is now nothing more than a wake and Goater is unlikely to figure in it.

He had been a doubt for the Ipswich game, having suffered a groin strain last week. He passed a late fitness test and was put on the bench for tactical reasons, making his entrance in the second-half.

However, in the build up to City's goal he injured his back and his season is likely to be at an end.

"The injury could take about two weeks to clear up,'' he said. "I was really upset as I wanted to carry on in the game, but I knew for the sake of the team that I couldn't.

"I would have had to go off and get treatment so we would have been a man short and we couldn't have afforded that.

"It was right that I should go off. I got caught in the challenge when I went to score. I saw the ball nestle in the back of the net and then felt the pain in my back come on. I wanted to get up but couldn't.'' Goater said he believed even without his prescence City could have still netted the win they so desperately needed.

"To be honest I had no thoughts about the goal. I just thought `this hurts'.

I couldn't get going again,'' he said. "I wasn't sure how much time was left but I did think we could go on to hold out or even score another goal, but it wasn't to be.'' Though it is has just been a matter of days since City's relegation, it is already being widely suggested that the club will have to sell a number of their star names if they are to offset the cost of the drop.

City will lose heavily in the TV money market and will have players under contract earning Premiership wages while playing First Division football.

Goater: `We have to come back stronger and more determined.'