FORMER Manchester United youngster Donald Love will not be suffering from any divided loyalties when he returns to Old Trafford looking to boost Sunderland’s relegation fight on Boxing Day.

Love was back in the thick of the Black Cats’ battle to beat the drop when he made his first start since August against Watford at the weekend.

The full-back took advantage of his recall to the side in the absence of Billy Jones and hopes to retain his spot for the trip to his old club on Boxing Day.

Even though Rochdale-born Love had been with United since signing for the academy aged seven, he knows points are far more important to Sunderland than any affection he may have had for his first club.

“I don’t feel like I have anything to prove going back,” said Love. “I came to Sunderland to play football, obviously it is really hard at United to get into the first team.

"I would love to beat them, though, it is one of them! It will be a really hard game but we want to give 100 per cent for the fans.

“Hopefully we will win but either way we will give it our all and hopefully the fans won't be disappointed with our performance. We will target their weak areas and look to get at them.

"It is going to be a hard game but whatever team the manager picks will go out there and give 100 per cent for Sunderland.”

Love knows exactly how hard it will be to leave Old Trafford with three points having spent his childhood regularly keeping an eye on how Sir Alex Ferguson’s teams went about winning trophy after trophy.

Manchester United these days are a different proposition under Jose Mourinho, who is trying to make a pretty strong unit into his own formidable one after a few difficult years since Ferguson’s departure.

But Sunderland will head there in greater confidence after improved results. Victory over Watford on Saturday was their fourth from the last seven games to put them within sight of climbing out of the bottom three.

Love said: "We have a tight-knit group and everyone was confident going into it that we could get the three points against Watford.

"We were all disappointed with the Swansea result, if we had got something there then we could have been out of the relegation zone already.

"We got the win against Watford and closed the gap to safety, we are looking good and looking to move up the table.

"It is Premier League football, you feel a bit of pressure before every game. At Manchester United there will be pressure. We dealt with it well against Watford, got the goal and got the win.”

And Love – who made his Premier League debut as a substitute under Moyes at Old Trafford - insists there will be no danger of Sunderland being fazed by the stage.

He said: “We won't be like that. This team has been through a lot already this season with the injuries and everything. We have stuck together throughout. Everyone is starting to see an improvement in our performances and results.”

Striker Jermain Defoe was instrumental in keeping Sunderland up last season with his form after Christmas – and he has already started this season well too.

Defoe has struck eight times this time around while he found the net 11 times in the second half of last season, making him one of the country’s hottest strikers in 2016.

He has been named the North-East Football Writers’ Association’s footballer of the year and will be honoured at the annual dinner at Ramside Hall on Sunday, February 12.

It will be a Sunderland double because goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has also been named the young player of the year after his brilliant performances in the struggling team.