Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard bemoaned their bad luck after their 2-0 defeat to Sunderland at Goodison Park on Saturday.

Fortuitous goals from Jermain Defoe and Danny Graham condemned the Toffees to defeat at home, and the American keeper thought that the Blues were unfortunate to slip to a reverse to the struggling Black Cats.

Howard told the club's official website: "Two deflected goals and we thought Defoe's may even have been a handball. I need to see it back.

"Jordi Gomez's shot was probably going wide and Graham gets a piece of it. Those are the shots in our box that we need to defend but we were a little bit unlucky really.

"We still have our eyes on the top half of the table and it's important to us."

Roberto Martinez's men travel to West Ham United next Saturday in their penultimate game of the season.