Sunderland forward Fabio Borini is back doing what he loves, scoring goals!

The forward made a vital contribution to the club’s survival battle last season and is aiming to do the same this time around.

Borini has not long returned from a thigh injury and ended his wait for his first goal, when he scored a beauty in the 3-1 defeat at Manchester United.

The Italian, his belief strengthened by that strike, now hopes to add to his tally

“The more I play the more confident I get and the more minutes I get in my legs, it will become easier for me,” said Borini.

“I’ve been out a long time, but that’s the past and now I am here to do what I am meant to do.”

His appearance at Old Trafford was his third – and best – of his comeback after feeling his way through the matches against Chelsea and Watford.

The opening two games were very much a case of finding his feet again, but Boxing Day was much smoother, highlighted by that goal of the season contender.

“The last time I played, we had two games in three days [against Chelsea and Watford],” said the 25-year-old, who was absent for 11 matches.

“This time we had 10 days to prepare for Man United.

“It’s tough now with the busy period, playing on the 31st and then the 2nd, and then the 7th.

“We need to work on our recovery probably even more than training, because that is the most important thing now. You need to recover fast and well.

“But we always have to be ready.”

Borini was not the only Sunderland player to come out of Boxing Day feeling good about himself.

The whole side performed well and can take positives into tomorrow’s trip to Burnley and the January Bank Holiday clash with his former club, Liverpool.

“You come away from home and you always try to get something, maybe try to nick a point or something,” said Borini who thought the home winning margin flattered United.

“We can only think about the next game now, and after that we can start to think about Liverpool.

“It’s game by game and, especially with three home games coming up, we have to do well.”

David Moyes was thrilled by the former Liverpool, Chelsea and Parma forward’s last-minute goal at Old Trafford, the sumptuous volley leaving David de Gea clutching thin air.

But the manager was just as happy that Borini had increased the goal-scoring list by 25%.

Until that late, late strike, the Black Cats had only had three men find the net – Jermain Defoe (eight), Victor Anichebe and Patrick van Aanholt (three apiece).

Moyes wants more from the once-capped Italian international and says he’d love to get him closer to the front, having so far been used in a wider role on his comeback.

“Ideally we’d like to get him to be a forward player as much as we can,” said Moyes.

“Losing Duncan Watmore has meant he has to do jobs down the sides and do a lot of running.

“If we can get him nearer the goal more often we would like to do so because he’s capable of scoring goals.”