QPR, Reading relegated after draw

Going down ... Harry Redknapp is already looking ahead to next season. Source: Glyn Kirk / AAP

Reading and Queens Park Rangers became the first teams to be relegated from the Barclays Premier League this season after they drew 0-0 at the Madejski Stadium.

Both teams needed a win to keep a slim hope alive of overtaking 17th-place Aston Villa, but neither side managed to create many clear-cut chances in a game that featured little creativity or entertainment value.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	35	27	4	4	43	85
2	Man City	34	21	8	5	30	71
3	Chelsea	34	19	8	7	33	65
4	Arsenal	35	18	10	7	30	64
5	Tottenham	34	18	8	8	17	62
6	Everton	35	15	14	6	14	59
7	Liverpool	35	14	12	9	25	54
8	West Brom	34	14	6	14	2	48
9	Swansea	34	10	12	12	-1	42
10	West Ham	35	11	9	15	-8	42
11	Fulham	35	10	10	15	-9	40
12	Stoke	35	9	13	13	-10	40
13	Southampton	35	9	12	14	-10	39
14	Norwich	35	8	14	13	-21	38
15	Sunderland	34	9	10	15	-7	37
16	Newcastle	35	10	7	18	-23	37
17	Aston Villa	34	8	10	16	-27	34
18	Wigan	34	8	8	18	-23	32
19	QPR	35	4	13	18	-27	25
20	Reading	35	5	10	20	-28	25

QPR is leaving the topflight after two years, having stayed up on the last day of last season.

"Next year it will be very difficult to get promoted, there are some good teams," QPR manager Harry Redknapp said.

"For us to get promoted we have to come back in preseason and get super fit. The Championship is Saturday, midweek.

"It you are not fit enough you won't survive, you won't get out of that league. The players that are here have to work so hard and want to get super fit to compete next year."

QPR have spent heavily since owner Tony Fernandes's takeover in 2011, and Redknapp is hopeful the Malaysian's investment will still be rewarded.

"I will get to see him this week and we will have some meetings and talk about things going forward, with the team with the players," Redknapp told Sky Sports TV. "I have said many times they are good people, so I would love to see them get back in the Premier league and build a team that will stay there next time.''

Reading is making an instant return to the second tier.

"I have told the players to bottle up the feeling as it is never nice to get relegated, and make sure they never feel that way again," Nigel Adkins, who was hired as Reading manager last month, told the BBC.

"We must now build for the future and learn the lessons well from this season. We have to regroup and put ourselves in a position to challenge to get back into the Premier League.

"For any new promoted team, it is a challenge to stay up. The Premier League is a ruthless division."

Wigan currently occupy the third spot in the relegation zone, and are two points from safety.

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