Sunderland forward Stephane Sessegnon believes Adam Johnson's first goal for the club will kick-start his Black Cats career.

PA PhotosAdam Johnson scores at Goodison

Johnson has endured a difficult start to life on Wearside since joining the club from Manchester City for £10 million in the summer.

But he broke his goalscoring duck as Martin O'Neill's side were beaten 2-1 at Everton, and Sessegnon thinks that will breathe confidence into both Johnson and his team-mates.

"It will be good for him to get that goal. We all know the quality of Johnno, but at the same time we know it's been difficult for him at the start of the season," he told the Sunderland Echo.

"But that's not unusual. It's often difficult for players when they're moving to a new club. Hopefully, that will be the goal which gives him some more confidence, and probably for the team as well.

"He's got so much ability, and now he can play with some more freedom. It's just unfortunate that his goal was not the winner."

Despite the defeat at Goodison Park, former PSG man Sessegnon still took positives from the afternoon, saying only bad luck had prevented Sunderland's best attacking performance of the season from being rewarded with three points.

"We were dangerous on the counter-attack, and in the end it was hard luck because I think if we had got a second goal it would have been enough to win," he said.

"We had four chances to score in the first half and if we had taken more than one, we'd have won."