West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola insists he is not worried by his side's precarious position in the Premier League.

The Hammers, who let slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Sunderland, lie second from bottom, three points adrift of safety.

First-half goals from Guillermo Franco and Carlton Cole had put the visitors in control at the Stadium of Light, but Andy Reid's free-kick before the break and Kieran Richardson's equaliser with 14 minutes remaining meant they had to settle for a share of the spoils.

The Londoners have not tasted victory since the opening day of the season at Wolves but Zola feels his side are not getting the rewards their performances deserve.

The Italian said: "I am not anxious about the situation. I'm upset because it's not the first time we've been in control of the game and we've lost points.

"That upsets me, because it's holding the team in a position that probably we don't deserve based on the way we've played.

"It's something that we have to come to terms with before the situation gets worse."

West Ham have let leads slip on two previous occasions in the league this term. They drew 2-2 with Fulham and lost 2-1 to Tottenham having been 1-0 up in both games.

But Zola believes it will not be hard to pick his players up for Wednesday's clash with Aston Villa at Upton Park.

"We are not down, we are just upset," he said. "There have been other moments where we've been feeling down, but this is not the case.

"We are really upset because of what happened. It won't happen again."

Midfielder Valon Behrami could be a doubt for the Villa game after coming off with a calf problem yesterday.

Sunderland fought back to draw despite playing the entire second half with 10 men following the dismissal of striker Kenwyne Jones for raising his hands at Herita Ilunga.

And boss Steve Bruce admits the suspension of Jones and captain Lorik Cana, who picked up his fifth booking, is a real blow.

The Black Cats will now be without their first-choice central midfield pairing against Tottenham on Saturday, with Lee Cattermole a long-term absentee with knee ligament damage.

Bruce said: "We'll be without Kenwyne for the next three games. We've lost Cana, we've lost Cattermole. That's the big impact."

Bruce also highlighted the need to cut out the defensive errors which led to both West Ham goals.

Sunderland's unsuccessful attempt to play Jack Collison offside led to the first, while Cole escaped the attentions of Nyron Nosworthy to slide home the second.

"The two goals we gave away were poor and you get punished in the Premier League. We've got to eradicate that," Bruce said.

"We've gifted them two goals and usually in the Premier League that's enough."