Steve Bull: It’s how we respond to semi loss that counts

I was excited, then scared and, in the end, totally gutted as Watford came from two goals down to beat us in extra time.

It was all going so well for us, but in those last 10 minutes of normal time, the wheels came off.

The Hornets kept coming at us and we just could not hold them off. I am not sure whether it was tiredness but, either way, credit to Javi Gracia’s team as they got what they deserved when it was all said and done.

We were all shocked and disappointed after the final whistle, but there has been some time to reflect on the journey which took us to Wembley – and it was fantastic.

In the race for seventh in the Premier League, having made it to a Cup semi-final – we would have all taken that if offered it at the start of the campaign.

It will have been a big learning experience for Nuno and his group of players – the 19-man senior squad.

And this group is still young. As long as they all stick together, I am sure we will have another Cup run to shout about in these next few years.

But for now, it’s back to the league and finishing the season strongly.

We are heading to face St Mary’s today to face Southampton, a team whose position in the table does not quite reflect the state they are in.

They are 17th – only five points above the drop zone – but I saw them play Liverpool recently and give them a right good go, so it is not going to be easy for us.

That being said, I am confident we can bounce back against Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.

It is up to Nuno and the players to leave nothing to chance in this final run of fixtures.

We need to make sure we see this season of superb work through.

Looking at these next two games, at Southampton today and then at home to Brighton, I think there is a real opportunity for us to show there is no Cup hangover at all.

They are two winnable games, and grabbing six points from them would certainly be recovering from Wembley in style.