Lynden Gooch lifts the lid on the mood in the Sunderland dressing room after the chastening MK Dons defeat

The Black Cats were beaten 2-1 at the Stadium of Light despite having countless chances to win the game, let alone take the point.

Max Power had handed Sunderland the lead before Cameron Jerome’s header just five minutes later drew the visitors level.

Scott Fraser would then convert from the spot shortly after half-time to hand the Dons the three point, with the hosts guilty of missing some golden chances as the game wore on.

And while Gooch admits the dressing room were naturally disappointed with their failure to take anything from the game, he says his teammates will not linger on this defeat – with plenty of football left to be played this season.

"You can't get too down about it,” said the American.

"It's November and we still have an awful lot of football left to be played so you can't get too down about it.

"Obviously we're disappointed because we were the better team. Two fouls have cost us the game at the end of the day, and they only got that chance at the end because everyone was bombing forward trying to get an equaliser.

"It's one of those games - you're disappointed you lost and dropped points at home but we have to react in the right way.”

And while full of respect of MK Dons, Gooch felt they didn’t threaten the home goal too much – in a game in which the Black Cats were left to rue missed chances.

“They play some good stuff and we knew that coming into the game,” he admitted.

"They like to play out from the back but they also take risks with the ball as well which I think we saw in the second half when we nicked it a couple of times and we should have scored.

"They do play some nice stuff, but I don't feel like they hurt us at all. They scored from a set piece and a penalty - and other than their chance at the end that Fraser had they didn't have much else.

"Obviously their [first] goal was disappointing and I probably shouldn't have given away a foul,” he continued.

"It can go either way and they've gone on to get the equaliser. That was really disappointing and the second half we didn't start well, but overall I thought we were the better team.”

It isn’t the first time that Sunderland have seen wasteful finishing cost them points this season, but Gooch remains encouraged by the fact the side are continually getting into encouraging areas of the pitch.

And he says the squad are well aware of the fact they likely should have a larger ‘goals for’ tally than they currently do.

“We created some really good chances,” added Gooch.

"We got into the final third a lot but we didn't take our chances. We're still creating a lot of chances and getting into the final third and some really good areas.

"Maybe we haven't scored as many of those chances as we should have, but we know that. When you go 1-0 up at home, you feel you should go on to win the game.”

The Black Cats will have to wait a week for their next fixture, with a rare free week giving Phil Parkinson time to work with his side ahead of the trip to Doncaster Rovers on November 21.

And for Gooch, the focus is now on working hard ahead of the trip to the Keepmoat Stadium – where he will face a side with whom he spent a brief spell on loan.

“It would have been perfect to have a game on Tuesday to put this to bed and move on and put things right,” admitted the 24-year-old.

"But we don't, so we have to get back on the training pitch and work hard again and make sure we do everything we should be doing and working on it.”

Saturday’s defeat represented something of a missed opportunity for the Black Cats, who could have climbed as high as third given a number of League One fixtures were postponed due to international call-ups.

But while his side failed to rise up the table on this occasion, Gooch isn’t getting too disheartened – knowing there is only one table that ultimately counts.

“There's a lot of football to be played and it doesn't matter where you are now, it matters where you end up at the end of the season,” he said.

"You can't read too much into it now. Of course you want to be in the top two for as long as you can and be in the promotion places, but you've just got to keep going.

"There's so much football to be played, a lot of games in short succession - two wins and one week and all of a sudden you can be top of the league.”

But while they may not be in the top two at present, does Gooch feel they can be in the mix for automatic promotion come May?

“Yeah, I don't see why not.

"It's fine margins - today they got two fouls and they scored from them and we haven't taken a couple of chances that maybe we should have. It's a disappointing day, but we've got plenty of games to go.”

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