Fabio Borini: 'Sunderland don't deserve to be bottom'

Sunderland striker Fabio Borini has insisted that the club won't be relegated if they can perform like they did against Chelsea on a regular basis.

After taking an early lead, the Black Cats succumbed to a 4-3 defeat against the Blues to leave the club two points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League table, but Borini believes that Gus Poyet's side don't deserve to be in their current position.

The 22-year-old told the Northern Echo: "We don't feel like the worst team in the Premier League, because we are not the worst. That is the mentality that we have to keep. We have to keep a winning mentality and know what we are capable of.

"If we play the way that we did against Chelsea, we won't get relegated. We do not deserve to be at the bottom. Playing like that against a top team was good, but the key will be doing it against our rivals at the bottom.

"The manager told us that even Jose Mourinho congratulated us on our performance. Mourinho said that he was surprised by the performance, and that is good."

Borini, who is currently on a season-long loan deal from Liverpool, has scored once in 10 appearances during this campaign.