DAVID MOYES described it as “poor”, Jack Rodwell admitted it was “disappointing”, and more than 20,000 Sunderland fans turned their backs on it entirely as they opted to stay away from the Stadium of Light. So much for the magic of the FA Cup.

But when it comes to Sunderland’s third-round stalemate with Burnley, a game of precious few chances and even more limited entertainment, Papy Djilobodji knows it could have been so much worse.

Seven days earlier, Djilobodji endured a personal meltdown and the rest of his Black Cats team-mates suffered a collective capitulation as they conceded four goals in the space of 36 minutes in a humiliating league defeat to Burnley.

This was hardly scintillating stuff, but it was a damn sight better than that. Sunderland’s name is in the hat for this evening’s fourth-round draw, and Moyes will take his side back to Turf Moor a week tomorrow hoping to erase last month’s embarrassment from the memory banks once and for all.

“In the last game against Burnley, I was so bad,” said Djilobodji, with commendable honesty. “I don’t want to do that again in the whole of my career.

“It was important to keep a clean sheet in this game, and to keep Andre Gray out. We can do better – not just me, everyone. I’ll not forget the first game against Burnley, but the replay is going to be much better.

“I didn’t enjoy the league game at Burnley, it was one of the worst of my career. Maybe I wasn’t ready or concentrated enough. Sometimes, though, something like this can happen – you just have to be strong and forget it. You have to believe in yourself.”

Djilobodji’s Turf Moor horror show, which featured a succession of individual errors that enabled Gray to claim a hat-trick, represented a significant step backwards just as the 28-year-old appeared to be making progress after a shaky start to his Sunderland career.

Having moved to Wearside in an £8m summer move from Chelsea, Djilobodji struggled in the early weeks of the season, but aside from his New Year’s Eve nightmare, he has gradually shown signs of coming to terms with life in the Premier League.

To his credit, he put his Burnley league performance behind him to perform creditably against Liverpool last Monday, and with Lamine Kone having left to represent Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations, he found himself playing alongside yet another central-defensive partner in the shape of Jason Denayer at the weekend.

Denayer has spent most of his Sunderland career playing in a defensive-midfield position, but the Belgian is more naturally a centre-half, and he was the best player on the pitch as a Burnley attack featuring both Gray and the powerful Sam Vokes was successfully neutered.

Denayer made a series of important interceptions in his own penalty area, and with Djilobodji also winning a succession of headers, Sunderland were defensively secure despite Burnley dominating possession in the latter stages of the game.

John O’Shea might well return in this weekend’s crucial league game with Stoke, but Denayer has proved there is more depth to Sunderland’s central-defensive resources than was perhaps imagined. That said, however, the constant upheaval cannot be helping anyone.

“I’ve had good relationships with all my team-mates, but particularly with Lamine Kone,” said Djilobodji. “That’s been perfect. Now, I’m trying to build up a relationship with John O’Shea and Jason Denayer.

“We’re here for Sunderland, and for the manager and everyone who comes along to watch. We have to stand together, and we have to help each other to be better and put in nice performances every game. It’s not easy (to have so many changes), but we can do it. It’s not the worst thing in life.”

Sunderland’s defensive display was the best aspect of their performance at the weekend, with their clean sheet representing only their fourth shut-out in 24 matches in all competitions this season. Javier Manquillo came back into the side to produce a solid display at right-back, and Donald Love did not look out of place as he slotted into the base of midfield to successfully contain Joey Barton, who was booed throughout thanks to his black-and-white connections.

Burnley had the best chances, most notably through Vokes, who was thwarted by Vito Mannone as he broke into the area in the first half, and James Tarkowski, who powered a header against the base of the post with 15 minutes remaining. In the final reckoning, however, a goalless draw felt about right.

Sunderland certainly didn’t deserve to win, and their attacking reliance on Jermain Defoe remains hugely concerning. Neither Fabio Borini nor Adnan Januzaj looked like fashioning a breakthrough, and Moyes desperately needs to extract more of a goalscoring threat from the two attacking midfielders.

Jack Rodwell at least tried to force the issue with three long-range efforts, the best of which was acrobatically tipped over by Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope, and the former England international looks like being an increasingly influential figure in the second half of the season.

“I thought Jack played as well as anybody,” said Moyes. “He was still running out of a bit of steam with 20 minutes to go, but hopefully we’ll be able to build his fitness levels back up over the coming weeks.

“I think Jack’s definitely getting it back. He had two or three attempts at goal and passed the ball relatively well. There were some good moments, and we need him.  We’re needing someone to take a bit of responsibility in the middle of the pitch for us, and Jack’s just beginning to do a bit of that.”