Nuno Santo has described West Ham United's FA Cup penalty shootout defeat as "tough".
Speaking in the wake of West Ham's 4-2 spot kick defeat, which followed a 2-2 draw after 120 minutes, Santo praised his team's never-say-die attitude which saw them recover from 2-0 down after 90 minutes and send the game into extra time.Talking to the BBC's Match of the Day, Santo admitted the defeat hurt. "It is sad the way it ended, because in the second half and in extra-time we created chances that could have stopped it going to penalties," he said.
"It's sad, it's tough. We saw from the fans what it meant to us to try and reach Wembley, but it wasn't to be so we have to rest in the best way we can and react for the next one. But we proved to ourselves that we can never give up; the game is not done until the referee says so and we have to take that into our future starting on Friday [against Wolves]."
And Santo admitted he was concerned just how much today's extra time will have taken out of the players, as they prepare for Friday night's crucial Premier League clash with Wolves.
"It will take more time to recover," he said. "he legs recover quicker when you win. Now we have sadness and that will drag into this evening and tomorrow, but we have to react. We have important games so we will keep fighting."
Meanwhile Jarrod Bowen, who missed West Ham's first spot kick in the penalty shootout admitted he was "gutted" at West Ham exit from the Cup.
"It hurts a lot after being 2-0 down," he revealed. "I missed [my penalty] and I can only apologise to everyone involved for that. You never want to miss penalties but I have today and I have to face that. It doesn't define who I am, but I have to stand tall from that. We did a lot of good things in the game but it wasn't to be.
"In the first half, we had a few good opportunities, the keeper made a great save from Taty [Castellanos] and from me. Our shape probably wasn't good enough and we tweaked a few things. At 2-0 down you have to go for it. We thought we would go on and win the game - but it wasn't meant to be.
"It has to hurt. We are hurt as a team. We have to dust ourselves down and get back into training tomorrow for the Wolves game on Friday, because we know what we have to do."
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