West Ham manager Sam Allardyce believes his side's recent fixture congestion finally caught up with them on Saturday as they fell to a 4-0 FA Cup defeat to West Brom at The Hawthorns.
Goals from Brown Ideye (two), James Morrison and Saido Berahino ensured West Brom booked their place in the quarterfinals at the Hammers' expense.
The east London club's miserable afternoon was made all the worse by substitute Morgan Amalfitano's second-half dismissal, and Allardyce -- whose team have played 10 games since Jan. 1 -- admits that the better side won on Saturday.
Following the travelling Hammers fans booing him and his side throughout the match, Allardyce said: "Fans get disappointed because there's 6,500 who have travelled up here and we have built the FA Cup to be one of our big successes this year.
"When you have travelled this way and the performance has not been as good as they have experienced for most of this season they express their disappointment.
"I am going to defend the players because we couldn't cope with the injury list and fixture list and it has not given us the level we can play at.
"I can't afford to get disappointed in things like that, it's about me supporting the players. They have given everything they could.
"It wasn't enough but they have done their best. They have given so much in such a short period of time. They were dead on their feet.
"I would say it [the defeat] was probably coming based on what we've had to cope with over the last few weeks and I think it told on us today, there's no doubt about that.
"I have to give West Brom a lot of credit -- they were very good. I don't want to take any credit away from them, particularly the front two today, but I look at the players and there was not the energy we know they've got based on all they've done in the last few weeks."
Morgan Amalfitano was also sent off for West Ham just 10 minutes after coming on in the second half, and Allardyce added: "It's unprofessional, isn't it? The punishment is laid down in our code of conduct and by the Football League.
"That will be dealt with, as always, internally and we'll move on, but I don't think it's made any difference to the result."