BLACKBURN Rovers owners, the Venky’s have released a statement in which they admit they are 'deeply hurt' by the club's relegation to League One.

Rovers will be playing in the third tier for just the sixth time in their history, and first time in 37 years, next season after relegation was confirmed on Sunday.

Despite the 3-1 win at Brentford, their haul of 51 points from their 46 league games wasn’t enough to keep in the Championship for a sixth season.

A statement released by the owners this evening read: "The Owners of Blackburn Rovers wish to place on record their appreciation for the work of manager Tony Mowbray since his arrival at the club, during which time both the performances of the team and results have improved significantly. Going forward he will continue to have our full support.
 
"Despite the courageous performance by the players and the victory at Brentford yesterday, results elsewhere led to the relegation of the club from the Championship. This is indeed a very sad situation and we are deeply hurt by these events. We share the same feelings as our supporters.
 
"Notwithstanding this temporary setback, we are confident that the collective efforts of the team, under Tony’s leadership, will enable the club to achieve promotion back to the Championship next season.
 
"The Owners and everyone at the club recognise and appreciate the solid backing of the supporters and thank them for this. We believe that such strong support will set us in good stead for the season ahead.
 
"We have all witnessed the events of recent years, where teams have been relegated but have turned their clubs around and emerged stronger, and we are determined to see Blackburn Rovers do the same.
 
"Work has already begun to make this happen and we will be making every effort during the forthcoming season to give ourselves the best chance to achieve this goal."