"For a forward, when you're scoring, you want to play all the time, but I have to respect the fact that the coach wants to rest me from time to time," said Defoe.
Defoe played for the full 90 minutes against Portsmouth last weekend, but was unable to get on the scoresheet in front of the attending England boss.
New loan signing Mido remained in dispute with the Egyptian coach so he wasn't involved during international week. He scored two first half goals on his Tottenham debut, as Martin Jol’s side beat Joe Jordan's Premiership strugglers.
That result ended Tottenham's run of three back-to-back Premiership defeats.