West Ham United captain Kevin Nolan has stressed the importance of putting an end to the habit of conceding first after the Hammers' 1-1 draw at Sunderland on Saturday.

Sam Allardyce's side have now sonceded first in each of their last three games, but came from behind to beat West Bromwich Albion and Swansea City prior to Saturday's draw on Wearside.

And Nolan, who has started each of West Ham's last three games, told the club's website: "It's something we've got to get out of our systems. Once we get ahead I think we could be one of those teams that can really start to punish sides. Gifting teams goals the way we have in previous games is not what we're about and not a habit we want to get into.

"We've been fantastic coming from behind in the last three games, but it's something we want to eradicate quickly, because in the Premier League, sooner or later, teams are going to hold out or hit us on the counter."

The 32-year-old added: "But you can't fault the lads' effort, their response or the way we've been playing in the last few games. Three wins on the spin and then obviously this draw makes it ten points out of 12. If you'd have given us that a fortnight ago going into the Newcastle game, everyone would have taken that."

Nolan echoed the opinion of manager Allardyce, who was left frustrated by the decision of referee Phil Dowd to award the Black Cats a penalty for James Tomkins' challenge on Adam Johnson for the opener.

"We're a bit disappointed with a few major decisions that didn't go our way, especially the penalty, which got their spirits up," stated Nolan. "The response from us was fantastic, again, and we could have gone on to win it. I thought we dominated the game throughout the 90 minutes, but it wasn't to be.

"You've got to respect the point, it's a tough place to come. Everyone finds it tough when they come to Sunderland. They're a good side and we had to respect that, so we're happy to leave with a point."