Sunderland striker Fabio Borini is confident he can play his part as a central striker as Jermain Defoe continues to recover from injury.

The Italian has been used as a winger in the past for the Black Cats and he played a key role as he helped Sunderland avoid relegation last season.

The Black Cats, 3.75 to be relegated, are still without Defoe and reports suggest his thigh issue could see him miss the start of the season.

He has been forced to sit on the sidelines during Sunderland’s trip to France and he has only played 120 minutes of pre-season so far.

Borini is currently the only other senior striker on Sunderland’s books and manager David Moyes may be forced to use him in a central role.

Despite the pressure, Borini is adamant he can deliver in Defoe’s absence.

He told the Chronicle: “I am born as a striker and that is my favourite position but as long as I am playing and can be in an offensive position to score goals, then I am happy with that.

“I played up front and scored against Montpellier, the other day I played wide left and scored and back home I played behind Jermain [Defoe] and scored again.

“As long as we are attacking, keeping the ball and creating chances then that is good enough for me.

It is up to me, Jeremain [Lens] and Wahbi [Khazri] to get more goals too.”