KENNY DALGLISH: "You need players as committed as they were tonight (to survive). You also need players free from injury. I thought they made a great commitment to do it but it is the results you get against the teams at the bottom that dictate. They got two points from three games and that was a disaster for them."

FRANK STAPLETON: "They went down on a high note. Blackburn could have won tonight, they had the better of the chances. I think you have to give Brian Kidd time and maybe he will be able to turn things round quicker than people anticipate." CHRISTIAN DAILLY: "Everyone is just so disappointed, it's difficult to put it into words. But we'll just have to bounce back. We are professionals, and we'll have to do a professional job next season."

DAMIEN JOHNSON: "I'm absolutely gutted. Brian said afterwards if we'd shown that belief in the last couple of games then we might not have been in this situation and I think he's right. But Brian Kidd is only just getting started and I think he's got a long-term plan for Blackburn Rovers. It will be good to be part of that because I think the club is going to go places under him." CALLUM DAVIDSON: "We matched Manchester United in every department and I just wish we'd given that in other games. You don't like to think of relegation but it has been there in the back of our minds because we've been down there all season and I think it finally got to us against Forest. Hopefully, we're only in the First Division for a season and we'll come straight back."

JOHN FILAN: "It's a weird feeling but the way the crowd reacted towards the players, during and after the game, fills you with hope and shows you how big the club can be. Brian said to us after the game this is where the rebuilding starts. He said if players want to be successful, and they want to stay at the club, then he's more than happy for them to be here."

ALEX FERGUSON: "Maybe it's a blessing in disguise. It gives him a chance to rebuild the club. In terms of the stadium they have and the money they have put into the club, they are a Premiership team really. But, as has been proved over the years, there's no divine right to be in the Premiership. You have to get the results to do that."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.