Guille Franco admitted West Ham United found the going difficult in Monday's 2-0 Barclays Premier League defeat by Tottenham Hotspur.
The Mexico striker ran himself into the ground at White Hart Lane, only to see goals from Luka Modric and Jermain Defoe secure all three points for Spurs. Having lost team-mates Scott Parker and Herita Ilunga to injury within the opening 20 minutes, the Hammers had a tough job to find a way through Tottenham's rearguard.
The forward revealed playing twice in three days for the first time in his career had been a real eye-opener. "It was a very difficult game," said Franco. "Tottenham are a strong team and have fantastic players. We tried hard and did some good things, but Tottenham were the better team.
"We lost Scott and Herita inside the first 20 minutes and it made it hard for us because they are important players for us.
"We have had two games in 48 hours and it is crazy - only in England do you twice in such a short space of time. I have never done it before in my career, not in Argentina, Mexico or Spain. It's very difficult for everyone and for us to play a very important match and lose those two players.
"I feel very tired and I feel down because we lost, but it's important that we retain a positive feeling for the future."
Franco will miss next Sunday's FA Cup third-round visit of Arsenal to the Boleyn Ground through suspension after being shown his fifth yellow card of the season against Tottenham.
With that in mind, the forward is targeting a successful comeback to first-team action against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday 10 January. "We don't have too many players are we have some injuries, so I will take care of myself over the New Year and will be back to help the team in 2010."