Alan Pardew joked that he felt like giving Albion's players a hug after their 3-0 defeat to runaway leaders Manchester City.
The Baggies were second best throughout and a much-changed side struggled to compete against Pep Guardiola's slick side.
Daniel Strurridge came closest to getting on the scoresheet for the Baggies but his effort could only find the side netting in injury time.
“At times in the game I wanted to give my players a cuddle because I felt sorry for them,” Pardew said.
“As an ex player, that was tough.
“You can’t say one of our players didn’t run their heart out, they did,
“When you turn the ball over you’re tired and some of our possession was tired.
“That was lack of game time for one or two.
“James McClean and Sam Field found it difficult coming in at that level to play against that team."
Pardew added: "It was tough for our fans tonight,"
"I felt for them in that little corner, getting wet. We were up against a team with all their top players available - Silva, De Bruyne, Aguero, Sterling. They made it very, very difficult for us.
"Focus turns to a very different game on Saturday. Hopefully I'll have a few more senior players available. I protected Brunty tonight, make no mistake about that. I need him fresh for Saturday.
"Hopefully we get ourselves back together in terms of a more balanced unit to play. It was a tough game on the agenda this one after the run we've been on. We take it on the chin and we go again."