BIT disappointing last night's 4-0 win, seeing that we understandably took our foot off the throttle.

After an hour - and the fourth goal - it seems only the Clarets will be eligible for sponsorship from Seven Up next season.

Seriously, though, while I very much hoped and expected us to beat a Fulham side in total disarray, the margin of victory was a pleasant surprise.

A poor first half-hour was soon forgotten as we swept into a two-goal lead before the break.

I was critical of Hakan Sukur in a previous column and a few stray lay-offs may be evidence he is still not fully match fit.

Nevertheless the sublime skill shown in scoring both of his goals was indicative of his natural talent.

By way of contrast, Sukur's strike partner Andy Cole didn't find the net but it certainly wasn't for the want of trying. Only a deflection off the bar denied him an overdue goal and the former Manchester United man showed some unbelievable touches which didn't quite come off.

Cole has had a strange season. He has copped a fair amount of criticism in certain quarters which I can't entirely agree with.

Yes, a return of five Premiership goals is nowhere near good enough for a player of his exceptional talent. But I don't feel it's because of a lack of effort.

Strangely it seems both he and buddy Dwight Yorke have been more effective when not playing together. Nevertheless Cole is still a class act and like most strikers a couple of goals would probably work wonders.

One player who had no problem finding the net for the fourth successive game since return from injury was perennial transfer target Damien Duff.

The circulation led National media rumour mill went into premature overdrive early last week regarding the Irish imp's future.

This drew some rather disappointing comments from the club about having to be realistic if a bid were to come in. After all, we're seemingly moving very much in the right direction.

Already on the fringes of, and hopefully in, the UEFA places by the end of the season, it would be frustrating if any of our better players felt the need to leave. Even more so if the club made the decision to sell.

We saw the road that took us down once before when Alan Shearer left. At the moment we already have a very good quality squad. The best way to improve on that is to retain the outstanding youngsters and add maybe one truly top quality player per season.

Going back to last night, the result was crucial in every sense. The win put us just three points off Liverpool in sixth place keeping the fans' hopes of experiencing another European campaign very much alive. Before last night's demolition job, just one point separated us in seventh place from the four teams below us.

A solid finish to the season is probably just as eagerly anticipated in the Boardroom. Or a cool hard cash difference of around £1.8m come the end of the season. That would rise to around £2.7m if we could overtake Liverpool and Everton.