Jose Mourinho is dreading the final three months of the season after Tottenham suffered a big blow in the race for the top four at Chelsea.
Spurs crashed to a 2-1 defeat on Mourinho's return to Stamford Bridge as Frank Lampard claimed a third successive win over his former boss.
They have been robbed of their only two strikers at the club as Son Heung-min joined Harry Kane in the treatment room this week, handing a devastating blow to Mourinho.
Spurs are in the thick of a six-way battle for fourth spot, are still in the FA Cup and are not out of the Champions League yet, despite Wednesday's last-16 first-leg loss to RB Leipzig.
But Mourinho appears ready to write off the remainder of this campaign.
"I am going to be repetitive. I would love to be at July 1," he said. "I would love to be in pre-season, working with Harry Kane, (Moussa) Sissoko and Sonny. That's not possible.
"We have three long months to go in three competitions where we are still (in it). It's going to be three long months.
"These boys will learn a lot from that. They will learn about resilience, effort, going to their limits.
"So I think a very difficult experience for the boys, but a very good experience for the future.
"It's going to be very difficult, especially when we go into an accumulation of matches.
"We don't even magic players to rotate the other ones, that is the big problem for us."
Mourinho has previously said that he does not know whether Kane or Son will play again this term after respective hamstring and arm operations.
Now he is hoping that one of them defies medical science to make it back quicker than expected and give his side a boost.
"I hope that by April, Sonny or Harry makes a fantastic recovery like Hugo Lloris did," he added. "Hugo came to play a couple of weeks before the expected time. Nobody expected him to come when he did.
"So with effort of the players, medical people, sports science people that works with the injured players, let's hope it's not until the end of the season.
"Not months but weeks, like Simon (Felstein – Spurs' press officer) says.
"I hope in May we we play three Premier League matches I hope we have them all. But we're speaking about the last three.
"It's going to be very difficult, especially when we go into an accumulation of matches.
"We don't even magic players to rotate the other ones, that is the big problem for us.
"Look at Chelsea, played striker of the world champions (Olivier Giroud). On the bench was the second striker of England after Harry Kane (Tammy Abraham), in the stands the second striker of the Belgium national team (Michy Batshuayi).
"We have zero strikers the pitch, zero on bench or zero in stands. We have two in the hospital.
"That's the situation, it's an incredible negative situation. I'm very proud of the boys, I cannot ask more from them. I am happy with them."
