Sunderland boss Gus Poyet concedes that the decision for his side's penalty against West Ham United was "soft" as they played out a 1-1 draw with the Hammers.

Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has admitted that his side's penalty decision was "soft" in their 1-1 draw against West Ham United, but feels that they were denied another spot kick later in the game.

The Black Cats were handed the chance to take the lead when Adam Johnson fell under minimal contact from James Tomkins as Phil Dowd pointed to the spot. Jordi Gomez converted the kick, but Poyet's men were pegged back by a strike from Stewart Downing.

In the second half, Sunderland were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box when Alex Song handled as he tried to clear the ball, and Poyet feels that the decision made for up for the earlier mistake by the referee as he failed to point to the spot.

He told BBC Sport: "We did enough to win the game. It was a game that whichever side scored more than one goal would win. I never felt we were under pressure, where you want the final whistle to come.

"We cannot ask the players for more, we cannot be more organised but there is something missing at the moment and we need to find it. Luck helps, but we need to hit the target. When you have a break you need to put in a good cross.

"To play the football I want, at the moment we are quite far away. We are doing as much as we can at the moment. The first penalty decision looked very soft, but the second decision thought was a penalty. So we got one."

Sunderland are 15th in the Premier League following their draw against the Hammers.