Gus Poyet delighted by sparkling Ricardo Alvarez display

Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has challenged Ricardo Alvarez to push on from his impressive showing against Fulham in order to achieve great success at the club.

The summer signing bagged his first Black Cats goal in the 3-1 win at Craven Cottage last night to help secure his side's passage into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Alvarez has been restricted to just four starts since making his initial loan move from Inter Milan, although Poyet believes that his talents are clear to see.

"I think the reaction from his teammates said a lot," he told the Shields Gazette. "They've been watching him every day. They know what he can do because they are trying to get the ball off him. The problem is we haven't been able to play him a lot."

"Of course you need to control the ball first. But if we do that and give him the ball in the right areas, I wouldn't be happy if I was a full-back seeing him coming against me. He's a great addition for us. Let's see if we can get him up to the pace of English football."

Sunderland will now face Bradford in the next round of the competition later this month.