Sam Allardyce has insisted that Fabio Borini "needs to start scoring" for Sunderland, having failed to get off the mark so far this season.

The Italian joined the Black Cats from Liverpool in August after previously having a loan spell at the Stadium of Light, but he has been unable to open his account in eight appearances.

The manager told reporters: "Fabio needs to start scoring. As a manager, you will always look at the games played and goals scored when you're in one of the front three positions.

"If you want to get out of trouble, these are the players that have got to churn out the goals when they get the chances. The one thing that would help you overcome [a lack of goals] is the amount of assists.

"For example, I didn't need Kevin Davies to score as many goals as you would expect [at Bolton], but he did provide the service for so many other players to score, it was unbelievable."

Borini scored seven goals in 25 league appearances during his loan spell with Sunderland in the 2013-14 season.