The Teessiders head into Sunday's final-day trip to West Ham knowing their fate was as good as sealed by their failure to beat Aston Villa at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday.

Boro remain in the Barclays Premier League only by virtue of goal difference with 17th-placed Hull three points and four goals better off.

Gareth Southgate's men would need a victory at Upton Park, coupled with a home defeat for Hull by Manchester United and a swing of five goals, and even then, a point for Newcastle at Villa would see them drop into the Coca-Cola Championship.

Jones, who could do nothing to prevent John Carew's second-half equaliser at the weekend, said: "We have to look at it that we are not out of it yet, so we have got to go into it and try to be positive, really go for it and hope things go our way.

"Obviously, it's going to be difficult and we are going to be relying on maybe Manchester United's second string, but things can happen.

"For the moment, we haven't given up and we have got to go into next week and do another job.

"It's going to be a miracle, but maybe that point might just get us something.

"It's going to be difficult, but we have got to go into it and believe we can still do it."

With West Brom having finally succumbed as a result of their 2-0 home defeat by Liverpool yesterday, two relegation places remain undecided, and Boro are odds-on to occupy one of them after taking just two points from their last five games and winning only one of the 10 they have played since their shock 2-0 victory over Liverpool on April 28.

But midfielder Julio Arca, who suffered relegation with former club Sunderland in both 2003 and 2006, has insisted they must fight all the way to the end while there remains a chance.

He said: "Mathematically, the chance is still there. It is hard, but it's not impossible.

"It's not up to us. We have to win the game and hope Newcastle lose - I am sure they won't have a nice afternoon against Aston Villa - and hopefully, Hull will lose against Manchester United.

"We know Manchester United have the Champions League final, but even with a second team they can put on a good show there, so hopefully, things go our way."

Should Boro's miracle fail to materialise, Southgate and chairman Steve Gibson will face the task of restructuring the club for a spell back in the Football League after 11 years in the top flight.

That is likely to mean the departures of key players like England winger Stewart Downing - who could have played his last game for the club after picking up a foot injury at the weekend - as well as redundancies much further down the scale.

However, the Teessiders will deal with that if and when the time comes, and in the short-term, the only focus is three points at West Ham.

Jones told the club's official website, www.mfc.co.uk: "As long as there's a slim chance, we have got to go into the game as players and think we can still do it, and that's what we are going to do.

"We said it in the dressing room - all we can do is go to Upton Park, play them off them pitch, get a win and hope that other things have gone our way.

"If they haven't at the end of that game, then we will reflect, but for the moment, we have just got to concentrate.

"Nothing is impossible."