DICK ADVOCAAT claims he has not yet told Fabio Borini whether he will be leading the line for Sunderland tomorrow, despite an injury doubt surrounding Jermain Defoe.

Borini led the line reasonably well against Manchester City on Tuesday night and now he could be handed an opportunity to stay there against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Sunderland are training for the final time on Friday afternoon and Defoe will be assessed before a decision is made on him travelling to Manchester with the rest of the squad. The chances are that he will, which will mean Advocaat has a decision to make on his forward line.

“Jermain has a little problem with his hamstring, not serious, while Jack Rodwell already had an ankle injury on Tuesday so we are not sure if he is involved yet either,” said Advocaat, who only has Adam Matthews definitely ruled out.

Borini has looked decent in his appearances so far, particularly at the Stadium of Light where he has played both on the left and through the middle. His head coach is still weighing up what is the best formation for his team.

Advocaat said: “We bought him as a striker. They told me he is a central striker who can play on the sides.

“Now normally you have a pre-season but now we have to find out what is best for the team while the season is going on. 4-3-3 or whatever; if you bring in new players you have to start as quickly as possible to find out your options.

“I have seen Fabio play centrally in one game and let’s see what he will do.”

And Advocaat, who heads for Old Trafford still searching for a first Premier League win of the season, said: “I believe in this squad, I have no doubts about that.

“You get to know each other much better. The ones who where here last year and the new ones take time to get to know each other, you get a different feel about the squad.

“You can only make it easier for yourself and the team by winning games. That’s what it is all about and cutting out the individual errors.”