Crouch came in for severe criticism for the red card he picked up for two rash challenges in the early stages of Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final clash at the Bernabeu.
He went a long way to answering those critics by scoring two headers to put Spurs on their way to a 3-2 victory over Stoke.
The striker admitted that he was "gutted" to be missing out on Wednesday's second leg, and conceded that he had never felt lower during his 13-year career than following his red card in Tuesday's 4-0 thrashing in the Spanish capital.
"That's as low as I've felt just because of the sheer importance of the match," Crouch said.
"It was the quarter-final of the Champions League at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid. With all those things put together, it was very disappointing.
"I watched the game in one of the referee's rooms with Rafa(van der Vaart), who came off at half-time. It was really frustrating. With each goal that went in, it felt like I had cost the team."
Source: PA
Source: PA