Victor Anichebe insists Everton's players are hurting just as much as the fans after the Blues' shock FA Cup exit.
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The 24-year-old was a second-half substitute in Saturday's woeful defeat to Wigan Athletic in the quarter-final tie at Goodison Park.
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Anichebe admits it was painful to watch Everton concede three goals in just over three first-half minutes as the Latics stunned David Moyes' men and shattered their hopes of a return to Wembley.
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Hopes were high that the Blues could end their 18- year wait for a trophy this season and Anichebe admits the players shared such optimism ahead of the game.
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However, the Blues are left to sift through the wreckage of a disastrous afternoon.
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The Everton players were made to watch the game back at Finch Farm yesterday and Anichebe is still coming to terms with a "crazy" game.
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But the Nigerian international says the only way to help begin the healing process is to put in a performance to be proud of against Manchester City on Saturday.
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"Hopefully we can bounce back in this game and show the supporters we do care and do always give our best," he said.
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"It was a hard to watch the game. We had high hopes this year in the Cup and to get to Wembley. We wanted it as much as the fans wanted it. Obviously it wasn't meant to be. I don't know the reasons but we can't take it away from the season we've had so far."
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We've had such a great season and want to finish as high as we possibly can.
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"Manchester City will be a good game to bounce back because the game at the weekend was crazy. It was a crazy three minutes. We watched it back at training and we saw the things we did wrong.
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"Everyone could see several things that went wrong against Wigan.
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"Nobody knows exactly what has happened. It is the first time we've been beaten like that this season."
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We've had a great start to the season and hopefully we can end it like that.
He has to forget that and focus on the future