Pride rather than pity has been on the lips of most Black Cats as they swap tales of swigging beer in Covent Garden and getting intoxicated on a first-half performance which was as good as any in the Poyet era.
The Sunderland boss, though, has a slightly different take on the past seven days.
“It has been a long week. Sometimes you need a midweek game,” he said, his voice lacking its usual zip.
Nursing a knee injury picked up at the training ground, a limping Poyet cut a bit of a downcast figure as he spoke for the first time since the heartbreak of seeing the Capital One Cup final snatched from Sunderland by two moments of Manchester City magic.
Defeat, clearly, has left him a bit bereft this week – a situation which has been exacerbated by the absence of most of his players on international duty. He reflected: “We have to take the positives and we reached Wembley. Some players never go to Wembley, even if they play at the biggest clubs.
“The atmosphere after the game was strange. It was a mix of pride and sadness. Some of the players who are normally very loud were very quiet and it was a very quiet flight home.”
So now the club can go one of two ways: fight back or crawl into their shells. Poyet – despite the lingering Wembley disappointment – was in the mood for fighting yesterday, although it was the survival battle which had started to encroach on his thinking again.
Another week of allowing rivals to get ahead of them is a source of frustration, even if Poyet is adamant he will put out a competitive side at the KC Stadium which will push hard for a Wembley return.
Today could be a crucial day, with Norwich, Crystal Palace and West Brom all playing – and Fulham taking on Cardiff in a battle of the bottom two.
Poyet added: “The longer it goes and the more games we get in hand – well, it can be bad.
“Teams who were close are winning and they are getting away.
“If us or Everton win, it will be another game postponed. I am trying to ensure we use the right team on Sunday because the last few games will be incredible.
“I don’t even think about preferences but Palace is a massive game, I can confirm that - it’s bigger than any game we’ve played so far, including the Cup final.
“We will use the squad as best we can and try and win at Hull but the way things are, there are games which will be massive. Palace is one of those.”
The attitude in East Yorkshire couldn’t be more different.
Steve Bruce has worked wonders this season and while Premier League safety is by no means guaranteed – with 30 points they still need another two wins to rubber-stamp another season of top-flight football – they can afford to mothball the survival bid to concentrate on pushing for a trip to Wembley.
Poyet, by contrast, has huge games coming up. Hull is one of them but it is not the priority now.
So how does the Sunderland manager encourage his players, who will be backed by an incredible support of 4,000, to expend the necessary effort to return the team to the capital for an FA Cup semi-final?
He said: “If you ask the players if they want to go to Wembley I will tell you they will do everything possible to go back there because of the feelings they had at the end of the game and the horrible walk up they had to get the medal you don’t know what to do with. It’s not nice.
“Everyone wants to get rid of that by having the feeling of going there and winning and to do that they need to win on Sunday. I suppose it has whetted everyone’s appetite.”
Encouraged to consider the positives of Sunday, Poyet finally – belatedly – relents.
The result and that bitter aftertaste might have soured the Uruguyan’s week, but the day itself will live long in the memory.
He added: “I tell you what, Sunday was incredible. I hate losing but it was incredible.
“Sometimes I need to step back from myself, disappear and think of what the fans did on Sunday.
“How they handled themselves, what they did in Covent Garden and when we got to the stadium. It was incredible and spectacular.
“The problem is you’re there and it’s so close. We were half an hour away. Even at 2-1 we’re so close. I lost count of how many people called me and asked why Fletcher didn’t hit out. I don’t know, who knows - even Fletcher doesn’t know why.
“I think it’s incredible what people felt. I have been before but for the new boys, the Argentinians, to have that feeling you lost but people are so proud I think it’s a new feeling for them.
“It doesn’t happen in other parts of the world - it’s unique.
“It shows you how important it is to give something to the fans, the opportunity to go to Wembley again.”
There is personal interest for Poyet too. His son Diego, a talented defensive midfielder, is likely to play for Charlton in their sixth-round tie against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. It is a huge leap of logic at the moment, but the prospect of father’s team playing against son’s at Wembley has not been lost on Poyet.
He said: “We have not talked about it yet. If we play each other at Wembley it means one of us will play in the final, which I think is great. There’s a long way still – he needs to win his game, we need to win ours.
“He’s not similar to me. I hope he’s better. I would be very proud if he was.”