Martin Kelly said it was always going to be tough for Crystal Palace facing Chelsea, but that losing out was still a difficult result to take for the Eagles.
The Eagles were beaten 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with goals from Tammy Abraham and Christian Pulisic helping Frank Lampard's men to a sixth Premier League win in a row.
And Kelly, who came on to replace Joel Ward at right-back late on in the first half, said it was a difficult afternoon for the Eagles as he praised Palace's opponents.
“They had a game plan and they had a lot of the ball, so it was tough, but I thought we worked our socks off right up to the end, so it was a difficult result to take," he said.
“I thought we held our own right up until late, but it was tough."
For Kelly, it was a first appearance at right-back this season, having mainly played at centre-back for Roy Hodgson's men when he has featured.
And the former Liverpool defender admitted that with Palace on the back foot for much of the first half as Chelsea dominated in west London, it was not an easy task for him and his team-mates.
“I haven’t played there for quite a bit, and it was a tough game," he said.
“You are always ready to come on at any given moment. I had half time to work on warming up that little bit extra, and I used that time to get warm, because we knew with the way Frank [Lampard] has got them playing it was going to be a tough game, and they would have a lot of the ball.
“We knew that they were in good form, but we have started the season well and we wanted to come here and give it a good go against Chelsea.
“It wasn’t to be, but we gave our all. Now we have to rest up. We have some players going away on internationals, but then we go again for another tough game at home against Liverpool."
