AN emotional Ben Gibson admitted he experienced the “lowest point of his life” as Middlesbrough’s relegation from the Premier League was confirmed by a 3-0 defeat at Chelsea.

Having won promotion from the Championship 12 months ago, Boro have crashed back into the second tier at the first time of asking.

They have only claimed five league victories all season, and now face a summer of considerable upheaval as they prepare themselves for a return to the Football League.

Gibson is one of the players that is likely to move on, but as a proud Teessider, the centre-half admits it will take some time to come to terms with the bitter disappointment of this season’s failure.

“It’s not just the lowest point of my career, it’s the lowest point of my life,” said Gibson, after goals from Diego Costa, Marcos Alonso and Nemanja Matic sealed Boro’s fate. “It’s the same for all the boys in there. It’s time to reflect now. The fans never stopped singing, and they deserve Premier League football. We haven’t given them that.

“It’s not just tonight. It’s not down to tonight – it’s the full season. From top to bottom, we haven’t been good enough. That’s everyone. That’s every player, every member of staff, myself – we haven’t been good enough. It’s not about tonight, it’s the whole season.”

Boro’s fate was effectively sealed by the dreadful run that saw them go four months without a Premier League victory after beating Swansea in mid-December.

That sequence eventually accounted for former head coach Aitor Karanka, and his successor, Steve Agnew, was unable to guide the Teessiders to safety.

“We have to reflect on what’s gone wrong. We have to put our fingers on it, and look to produce better.”

Boro’s final two games of the season against Southampton and Liverpool are now immaterial, while Chelsea will be crowned Premier League champions if they win at West Brom on Friday night.

“They were much better than us in every department,” admitted Gibson. “It could have been five or six in the end. It’s a bad night, a really bad season.”