GUS POYET is ready to reward Jermain Defoe for opening his account in a Sunderland shirt - by leaving him out at Fulham on Tuesday night.

Defoe scored the Black Cats’ second in the 34th minute of Saturday’s much-needed 2-0 win over Burnley and Poyet was delighted with the striker’s overall contribution.

But in a bid to protect this month’s big signing from Toronto, the Sunderland head coach looks set to rest him for the FA Cup fourth round replay at Craven Cottage.

“I knew Jermain would score,” said Poyet. “You see him happy, scoring and he is happy, it’s nice to see. But we have to be careful with him.

“I will try to play him as much as he can. I don’t want to lose him because he has not played for a while. It is very good to have Steven Fletcher and Danny Graham to come in. They will all give us points.”

Sunderland clinched the three points against Burnley courtesy of Defoe’s first for the club and Connor Wickham’s powerful header in the 20th minute.

The result lifted the Wearsiders up to 14th and four points clear of the relegation zone. Poyet was satisfied after seeing his players claim a second home win of the season in the Premier League, but he wants more.

“We are not OK. I need to make sure we don’t get complacent,” said Poyet. “I’m happy for the players and for the fans. We scored two goals, got a clean sheet and a much needed win. It was a good day for us. It was back to basics.

“It has to be a turning point for us. The first half was the perfect game for us. We had to control the game. It was nice to feel that we were not under pressure.

“But the message is that we are not OK. We need to keep improving. We have more qualities than we are showing but we are getting there.”