STEPHANE Sessegnon admits Sunderland's attackers have failed to hit the heights during the opening three months of the season.

After seven Premier League matches, Steven Fletcher remains the only Black Cats player to have scored a goal.

Sessegnon, Louis Saha, James McClean and Adam Johnson have all failed to find the target in the league, a record that helps explain why Martin O'Neill's side are languishing in 14th position ahead of Saturday's trip to Stoke City.

Sunday's 1-1 draw with Newcastle exemplified Sunderland's lack of attacking threat, with the Wearsiders only breaking down their ten-man opponents when Demba Ba deflected John O'Shea's header past his own goalkeeper, and Sessegnon admits improvements are required.

“It's clear at the moment that we can still improve a lot,” said the Benin international. “We know that offensively we've had a few difficulties this season.

“It's unfortunate that we haven't been able to show more going forward over the opening two months, but we've got to keep our confidence and continue to work hard and I'm sure the goals will come.

“We're not creating those chances and again on Sunday, neither me or Fletch saw a lot of the ball, not as much as we'd have liked definitely. It's something we need to improve on because we've not created many chances all season.”

Danny Rose was one of Sunderland's more creative players at the weekend, and while Sunday's performance might not have been quite what the Black Cats were wanting, the full-back, who was racially abused in England Under-21s' win in Serbia, felt the derby-day experience was an enjoyable end to a harrowing week.

“I'm very lucky to have played in the North London derby and been on the bench on a couple of occasions,” he said. “I'm not just saying this because I'm at Sunderland now, but that was the best atmosphere I've ever experienced.

“I came through the ranks at Leeds and played in some of their big games, but this derby was something special.”