Swansea City’s seven-year stay in the Premier League is all but over after Huddersfield Town’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea.
The point took the Terriers to 37 points and out of reach of Carlos Carvalhal’s side with one game left.
The Swans could move level with Southampton on 36 points if they beat Stoke at home in their final game.
But it would still need a 10 goal swing for them to leapfrog the Saints who entertain Manchester City.
The Swans were left praying for a miracle after the 1-0 home defeat by Southampton on Tuesday night.
But none came at Stamford Bridge where David Wagner’s side followed up their goal-less draw at Manchester City with another dogged display.
Laurent Depoitre had given Huddersfield the lead against the run of play against a side which needed victory in their pursuit of a Champions League spot.
And though a clearance hit Marcos Alonso in the head and deflected into the net for the equaliser Chelsea could not get the second goal that would have kept Swansea’s hopes alive for a few days more.
Many pundits were tipping Huddersfield to take the last relegation spot given their last three games were against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal.
But they did enough and it is the Swans who are heading back to the Championship.
That will inevitably lead to speculation over the future of chairman Huw Jenkins and Carvalhal who had initially taken the club out of the drop zone when he replaced Paul Clement.
And there will inevitably be speculation over whether the Swans will keep hold of the likes of Lukasz Fabianski and Alfie Mawson.
