West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has admitted that the late 3-2 defeat to bitter rivals Tottenham is "hard to take".
Disappointment at the end
The Hammers traveled across the capital looking to end Spurs' unbeaten league run, and looked to be heading that way with Michail Antonio's header in the 24th minute.
Harry Winks got the equaliser on his first league start for Mauricio Pochettino's side, but a penalty from Manuel Lanzini looked to have secured the three points. However a late double from Harry Kane secured the three points right at the death, and Bilic shared his disappointment at the death.
“We are extremely disappointed," Bilic told whufc.com. "We were 2-1 up with three or four minutes to go and [before that] we had three really good opportunities to score the third one."
“When you are up with three minutes to go you want to win the game," he stated. "Ok, they can equalise, but to concede two goals – one of which a penalty – is hard to take."
Chance against anybody
Winston Reid's late dismissal rubbed salt into the wounds, and the defender will be missed as the Hammers face a tough run of fixtures in the next few weeks.
Manchester United in both the league and EFL Cup, Arsenal and Liverpool are all coming up in the next few weeks. Despite the task ahead, Bilic is optimistic that they can get some results against the big sides.
“It would have been important for us to get something out of the game," the Croatian admitted. "Because we have a tough schedule."
He added: "But then again we have shown that we can put really good performances in and we have chances against whoever we play."
“The red card is another blow for us because Winston was really good today – excellent in anticipating the ball when they played through the middle," Bilic concluded. "It was a bit harsh and now we lose him for one game.”
West Ham United will take on Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, November 27 with kick-off at 4:30pm BST.