AN HONEST Kevin Kyle finally acknowledged Sunderland's season as a Premiership club was doomed when he uttered the prophetic words "it's mission impossible".

Kyle bowed to his club's inevitable fate after the ten-man Black Cats suffered their 19th reversal in 23 Premier League fixtures at the hands of last season's Championship promotion play-off winners West Ham United.

The 24-year-old striker believes, however, that Sunderland will bounce back stronger for their top-flight experience and insisted the club now has to rebuild for the future.

"It's another game that slipped away and that's more or less it for us now," confessed Kyle. "I don't think anybody can argue with that, it's mission impossible.

"We've got to look to the future now and try to prepare for next season.

"We've 14 games left and we've got to put in the kind of fighting performance we did against West Ham to show the fans we are trying. Hopefully we can go down with a fight."

Saturday's fixture was the Sunderland striker's second start since recovering from a career-threatening hip injury; which consequently ruled him out of first team action for 17 months.

Six or seven games may be needed before fans see the best of their bludgeoning frontman, but against the Hammers Kyle revealed glimpses of form prominent in the club's charge to the Championship play-off semi-finals the season before last.

And on another day the Scottish international could have bagged a hat-trick.

"I'm feeling great but it was a difficult game for me, particularly being up front on my own for most of it," said the big Scot, who also revealed his intentions of convincing manager Mick McCarthy, between now and the end of the season, he is worth the extra year option on his current contract.

"I had to get through a lot of work but I'm fine. The sharpness is starting to come back slowly.

"With the chance I had in the first half, when I hit it with my left foot, I think if I'd have been a bit sharper I might have put the ball away. If it had been a little bit further inside I might have slotted it with my right foot.

"I feel as though I'm getting there. It's just games and I'm getting that at the minute. It'll only get better with each game.

"The first chance in the second half, the box was a bit crowded and, I didn't quite get the power on it.

"The second chance was actually easier. It should have been an easy tap-in, it was so close to goal but as I went to head it I felt a bit of a nudge in my back and it just put me off at the last minute.

"I probably should have put it in the back of the net."