Sunderland could only manage to claim a 0-0 draw against Burnley in the FA Cup.
David Moyes claims it was an easy decision to pick Jermain Defoe for Sunderland’s FA Cup clash against Burnley, as per his comments in the Chronicle.
While many Premier League sides took the break from league action as an opportunity to rest their key players, Sunderland put out a strong team against Burnley.
Defoe was included in the Black Cats’ starting line-up, and Moyes admits that supporters could have asked questions if he was excluded.
“I thought it was an easy decision to play him because I want to get through,” Moyes said.
“I think if we hadn’t played him, people would rightly have asked why.
“There was an awful lot of talk about playing a lot of young players, and I thought to myself ‘Well if needed, we will do. But if not, I don’t need to’.”
Even with Defoe in the side, Sunderland were unable to break down a resilient Burnley.
The two sides drew 0-0 at the Stadium of Light, with a replay now set to take place to decide which team makes it into the fourth round.
The added fixture arguably favours neither side, who are mainly focused on staying up in the Premier League this term.
Sunderland are currently in 18th place in the top flight table, while Burnley are up in 12th place.
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