MARLON King is determined not to end a season which has seen him experience life at both the top and the bottom of the league with relegation.

The Middlesbrough striker will run out at Newcastle on Monday night knowing defeat at Middlesbrough could effectively consign the Teessiders to the Coca-Cola Championship.

That would come as a major blow after starting the campaign on a high with promoted Hull, who remarkably found themselves in the top three after winning six of their first nine top-flight games.

King, who has spent the season on loan at the KC Stadium and then Boro from Wigan, has since looked on as the Tigers have slipped down and into to the danger zone.

He said: "This league is unforgiving - I was at Hull earlier in the season and we were third, level on points with the big boys.

"To see Hull scrapping for their lives shows you how unforgiving this league is.

"You have got to take what you can in this league.

"Monday is going to be a tough game, but everybody is looking forward to it."

Full story and more previews in Monday's The Northern Echo