Madrid, Jan 18 (IANS): Atletico Madrid's coach Diego Simeone said Friday that his football club's elimination from the Copa del Rey had been a hard experience but the loss had pushed it to play well in upcoming matches.

Atletico Madrid and Girona drew 3-3 Wednesday in the second leg of their Copa del Rey knockout stage and the two teams were 4-4 on aggregate, but the upstart visitors Girona are headed to the quarterfinals on the strength of their three away goals while Atleti is out of the Spanish cup tournament, reports Efe news.

"It is clear that being out of the Cup is not good, it hurts us, but it will give us the strength to be prepared better for what is coming," the Argentine coach said in a press conference on the eve of Atletico's La Liga Huesca away clash.

Simeone stressed that the upcoming La Liga clash would not be easy as Huesca has shown that only Atletico playing at a high level will be enough to beat the hosts.

"Huesca has grown a lot since their change of coach. They almost beat Valencia, they beat Betis and they competed very well in their last match. Therefore, it is going to be a tough match and we need to take it in the direction we want it to go," he added.

Simeone has only 13 first team players ready for the Huesca clash since seven other first team players are sidelined due to injury.

Huesca is to host Atletico on Saturday at Estadio El Alcoraz in Huesca.