Alex Ferguson admitted he had not realised he had consigned his old friend Brian Kidd to the first division following Manchester United's goalless draw at Blackburn.
The United boss mistakenly thought the point was enough to keep Rovers' hopes alive. "I thought they only needed a point and to win at Newcastle on Sunday," confessed Ferguson. "I didn't speak to him after the game and you don't know what to say in these situations to be honest with you and it's not easy."
Blackburn manager Kidd, who was Ferguson's right-hand man for seven years at Old Trafford, was almost in tears and he refused to admit that United had sent them down.
"Manchester United have not sent us down and I don't think one game sends you down," he said. "We put ourselves down from the first game in August and that's where it started. That's why United and Arsenal can win the title because they started from August and went on."
Victory for United over Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday will clinch their fifth title in seven years. "The name of the game is to win the match on Sunday," said Ferguson, "and that's just what we'll try to do. It makes it a real nail-biter. If you had said to me at the start that we will need to win our last game at home to win the league, we would have taken that hands down."
Kidd refused to join the players when they came out to thank the Ewood Park fans for their support. "What have I done to go out there and have people clapping me?" said Kidd. "I've just gone out of the Premiership, so what have I done? If we had beaten Southampton, Charlton and Nottingham Forest it would have been so different."
Ferguson said he took Jaap Stam off as a precaution after he felt his Achilles and that he should be fit to face Tottenham. Ferguson also claimed Roy Keane was recovering well from his ankle injury and has a good chance of making Sunday.