Michael Laudrup was left disappointed after his much-changed Swansea side were over-run 5-0 at Liverpool on Sunday.
The Swansea boss, whose side face Bradford in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley next Sunday, made seven changes to the team which beat QPR last time.
He left out the likes of top scorer Michu and defender Ashley Williams ahead of the showpiece clash, but Laudrup thought his squad would cope.
Laudrup told Sky Sports: "(The absence of Michu and Williams) that's only two players.
"I mean there were a lot of good players in there and even the ones who have maybe not playing regularly, the last two, two-and-a-half months we've been changing regularly between those 19/20 players and we've always been competitive.
"Today nothing - it's the first game where I've seen that for a long, long, long time, I think since September.
"So a part of the excuse could be the head was already at Wembley but we have to live with this result and it's not nice."
Laudrup acknowledged the defeat could have been by even more goals, with Liverpool having 35 shots during the game.
He added: "Of course when you come in after the first half we are still in the game 1-0. We had a couple of chances, they had three or four, but we are still in the game.
"And then after the first ten minutes they score three goals, some of them incredible, so you are 4-0 down and with 35 minutes still left to go, it's going to be very difficult."
