But the focus now turns forward- it has to according to the skipper.
The Hammers return to the UEFA Conference League – a competition they have won eight out of eight fixtures in – away to AEK Larnaca in Cyprus on Thursday, before a Premier League encounter at home to Aston Villa next Sunday.
And Rice is well aware the Hammers must improve and quickly too.
“Brighton was not good enough,” the skipper stated, “it is going to hurt. We have let the fans down massively…but we will be onto the next.
“We just keep our heads down and I said to all the lads, we listen to ourselves and the people around us, and we stick together as a group and move on to the next one.
“We know it was not good enough today but let’s try and bounce back on Thursday and then we will have Villa on Sunday. I am sure our fans will be behind us in these next two fixtures.”
