The 25-year-old Ghana international took his tally for the club to 10 goals - a creditable return on the record £13million-plus Steve Bruce invested in him last summer - with the opener against Tottenham on Saturday, yet still ended up on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline. Gyan was famously stunned to discover that, rather than enjoying a winter break around the turn of the year, he and his Premier League colleagues were expected to play five games in the space of 14 days. But, as he left Wearside to spend a few days with his family with the Black Cats not in FA Cup action next weekend, he did so reflecting on successive Premier League defeats by Chelsea, Stoke and Spurs - a run which represents a significant dent to the club's hopes of European qualification. Gyan said: "It's a good time to have a break, but not after a loss. If we had won, it would have been quite good. "At the moment, it's a bit sad because we have lost three in a row. "The whole team has been doing well, but quite unfortunately, we have conceded silly, silly goals. "But if we keep on concentrating in games, we will do much better because we are playing good football." Sunderland remain in seventh place in the table, but passed up an opportunity to leapfrog resurgent Liverpool and climb back into the top six as a result of their latest setback. They got off to the perfect start when Gyan collected Kieran Richardson's driven cross before swivelling and blasting a right-foot shot past keeper Heurelho Gomes with William Gallas, much to manager Harry Redknapp's consternation, off the pitch changing his boots. It was just what they needed after twice surrendering the lead at Stoke a week earlier to lose 3-2 at the death. However, they failed to learn the lessons of their capitulation at the Britannia Stadium under a predictable assault by Tony Pulis' side, and were made to pay once again. There was just a minute of the first half remaining when Titus Bramble for once failed to get close enough to Michael Dawson as he met Steven Pienaar's right-wing corner and, with Gallas lurking in front of keeper Craig Gordon, the defender powered a header through the Scotland international's legs to equalise. Spurs, with Rafael van der Vaart, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale missing and Wilson Palacios, Aaron Lennon and Peter Crouch starting on the bench ahead of Tuesday's Champions League trip to AC Milan, had been less than impressive up to that point. However, they returned after the break in more enterprising mood and got their reward with 57 minutes gone. John Mensah could clear Sandro's cross only as far as Niko Kranjcar, and the Croatia international, whose stunning strike saw off Bolton last weekend, produced a sumptuous volley to repeat the feat. Gyan was happy with his goal, but admitted he would have been more pleased had it counted for something. He said: "It was a great goal, I am so happy to score those kind of goals - but it led us nowhere, so it is quite disappointing. "It's quite frustrating because we lost in the same way at Stoke. We dominated the game, and then all of a sudden, we lost the game, and that's what happened on Saturday. "It didn't look like we would lose the game. We took control in the first half, and then we conceded a late goal, which is quite frustrating. "We came back strongly in the second half, we were doing well, and we conceded a goal again. "It's quite frustrating, but that's football." Bruce was annoyed by the manner of Spurs' equaliser, but confident the rot can be stopped. He said: "The one thing you have got to be is be positive, keep positive and take the positives out of it. "We have got a tough run if you look at it, starting with Everton and Arsenal and Liverpool and Manchester City - it doesn't become any easier. "We have got to try to turn it around and keep the level of performance like it was in the first half, and I am sure we will pick up a few points."
