Kenny found the defeat at Inverness hard to take

"Five wins out of six games put us at the top of the table in terms of the form league," he pointed out after his side lost 2-1 after two late goals.

"We played well here but somehow lost the game.

"Relegation has consequences for everybody, but we just have to accept it and come straight back up."

Interview: Dunfermline manager Stephen Kenny

Dunfermline looked set to take their quest to avoid the drop to the final day of the season when Jim McIntyre volleyed them into a 37th-minute lead.

But goalkeeper Dorus De Vries fumbled Richard Hastings' free-kick into his own net and Rory McAllister's sunk them with a last-minute goal.

Despite the calamitous mistake from De Vries changing the course of the game, Kenny refused to be critical of his goalkeeper.

He said: "I certainly won't be pointing the finger at Dorus and it was just one of those things, a mistake at a crucial moment, but he's a good person and an excellent goalkeeper who I am very happy to have."

Kenny now has to lift his side for the Scottish Cup final with Celtic on 26 May but the Irishman was feeling low.

"Had we stayed up then I think we could have done well in the SPL next season," he added.

"Now we are relegated there are implications such as players possibly wanting to leave and that would definitely make us weaker.

"It was cruel because we have played some outstanding football in the last few weeks, but that's the way it goes.

"It is very unfortunate for a club like Dunfermline with the ground that we have, the momentum of the last few weeks, getting to the cup final, qualifying for Europe and the potential which exists, that we have to go to the First Division.

"That is a real kick in the teeth for us because it sets us back as a club."