Freddie Ljungberg is already looking forward to Wednesday night's trip to Anfield to take on Liverpool but knows it will be "another tough game".
The midweek match will see West Ham United finally draw level on games played with the rest of the Barclays Premier League - bar their opponents, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur - and there is the incentive of moving within striking distance of at least two teams above the club's tenth-place position. That said, the Hammers have not won at Anfield since a 2-1 win on 14 September 1963 and are coming off the back of a 4-0 home defeat by Chelsea.
"It is another tough game at Liverpool," said the Sweden captain, who was voted the whufc.com users' player of the month for February having gone into the month on a high with a key role in the 1-0 home win against Liverpool on 30 January. "I am very disappointed with [Saturday's loss]. We have been on the way upwards a bit and it was a sucker punch so hopefully we can bounce back on Wednesday and play some good football. That is what we are looking for."
Ljungberg was impressed by the Reds' recent 2-0 home win against Inter Milan that sees them with a great chance of progress to the Champions League quarter-finals when they travel to Italy for their last-16 second leg seven days after the visit of West Ham United. "They did very well against Inter Milan," he said. "Maybe they were struggling a little bit before that. They did very well in that game so we will have to wait see."
Looking back to Chelsea, Ljungberg acknowledged that it was an uphill battle once you "concede an early goal", adding: "If we talk about their goals, they took them really well and made the most of the chances they had in the first half. We are very disappointed. There is nothing else to say. The most important thing against a big team is not to concede early on and we conceded two goals early on. That gave them a lift."
He said the team had gone into the Boleyn Ground contest on a high after the 1-0 win at Fulham and following a run of six unbeaten matches at home. There was also the hope Chelsea "were on edge" after losing out on the Carling Cup a week ago. "Maybe after the cup final they were a bit wobbly and they really wanted to show something today. When they made it two-nil they were able to calm down a little bit.
"We always try but when you play one of the top sides and you are three-nil down it is a bit of a mountain to climb. When they controlled the game, they just held their positions and it is a bit annoying at three-nil down. The game was dead unfortunately. That is what we have to look at - especially the first 20 minutes - to concede two goals that is what killed the game. I can say they were the most clinical team we have played."