Sunderland's Emanuele Giaccherini is remaining positive despite a below-par campaign in 2014/15.

A host of persistent injury problems meant that Giaccherini was limited to only 11 appearances throughout the course of last season.

Despite the troubles from the previous campaign, Italian midfielder Giaccherini is remaining positive and has stated that he will be looking to make amends during the upcoming campaign.

After scoring a brace in the 4-2 friendly win over Darlington 1883 on Thursday, Giaccherini told the club's official website: "It was good to be out there again scoring goals and more importantly building up my fitness. I want to forget last season, it was the worst season of my career.

"I want to look ahead to the new season because it is very important for me. I am determined to show my quality to prove to the manager that I can play in the starting eleven."