MARTIN O'NEILL has learned it is highly unlikely Asamoah Gyan will be allowed to return to Sunderland early from his loan in the Middle East.

O'Neill has expressed an interest in finding out what the striker's situation is after inheriting a squad bereft of a £13m forward crowned African player of the year not too long ago.

But with goals in short supply on Wearside, the new Sunderland manager has asked Niall Quinn (the club's international development director) to clarify the terms of Gyan's loan.

"I've absolutely got to talk to Niall Quinn about exactly where we stand on that," said O'Neill. "Gyan started off brilliantly here. His position will definitely be looked at."

And while it is not impossible if Sunderland did come to an agreement with Al-Ain, a club in the United Arab Emirates, it appears fanciful the Ghana international will return early.

A substantial loan fee was paid by Al-Ain to secure the services of Gyan for the season and only five of the 22 games in the Etisalat Pro League have been played so far.

The season usually runs for "up to ten months" and only started on October 16, so Gyan still has a considerable period of time left as an Al-Ain player.

Sunderland also know that, even if an agreement was reached with Al-Ain, the former Rennes striker could be on African Cup of Nations duty with the Ghana squad for six weeks in the new year.

Gyan has been in good form since his move to the UAE, scoring six goals in eight games for the club, including five in five in the league, where he is the league's joint-third highest scorer.

O'Neill is keen to give every member of the squad he has inherited a chance to shine under his tutelage, but has already identified goalscoring as a possible weakness.

With Fraizer Campbell and Connor Wickham still sidelined, the Northern Irishman must work out a way of bringing the best out of Nicklas Bendtner, while unearthing goals from the rest of the squad.

There will be a look around the transfer market before January to see what attacking alternatives there are available, with Chelsea's Nicolas Anelka an early name linked with Sunderland yesterday.

The Black Cats head in to Sunday's visit of Blackburn Rovers on the back of just two wins at the Stadium of Light since New Year's Day, which is something not lost on the former Aston Villa boss.

But with Sunderland, who are a point above the relegation zone, only five points from the top ten, O'Neill is optimistic about things turning around pretty quickly.

"Our position is insecure at the moment but we have a lot of games to play," said O'Neill. "We want to win as many as quickly as possible because there are numbers of teams gathered.

"Not much separates teams and you hope you can join the pack just above you and get some distance away from those below you.

"That is easier said than done, but I would love to be successful and I think if I am successful I have a better chance of staying here."

It was yesterday confirmed that O'Neill has successfully appointed Jim Henry to his coaching staff as head of performance. Henry worked with him at Celtic and Aston Villa before joining Hibernian in November 2010.

And a Hibs statement read: "Jim Henry has left the club. He joins Martin O'Neill's new backroom team at Sunderland with immediate effect."

Henry has been added alongside first team coach Steve Walford and goalkeeper coach Seamus McDonagh, while he has not installed a new assistant manager as yet.

Sunderland's trip to Peterborough United in the third round of the FA Cup has been confirmed as a 3.30pm kick-off on Sunday, January 8 after being selected for live broadcast on ITV1.