Sunderland will be looking to complete a league double over arch rivals Newcastle United at St James Park on Sunday.
The Magpies head into the game looking to avenge the defeat the Black Cats inflicted on them in December as a Nick Woltemade own goal ensured the bragging rights were claimed by Regis Le Bris’ side on a memorable afternoon at the Stadium of Light. However, Newcastle’s recent league record against Sunderland goes far beyond that loss and they will be looking to rack up their first league derby win since August 2011 when a Ryan Taylor free-kick gave the Magpies all three points at the Stadium of Light.
Newcastle’s last derby win on their home patch came in October 2010 when a Kevin Nolan hat-trick and a brace from Shola Ameobi helping the Magpies inflict a 5-1 defeat on Sunderland just months after returning to the Premier League. Since that day, the Black Cats have claimed three wins on Tyneside and the other two meetings at St James Park have ended with a share of the points.
Despite that dismal record, Howe has stressed his players can’t afford to look back and urged them to focus on their physical and mental recovery from their midweek Champions League defeat at the hands of La Liga giants Barcelona.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the Magpies boss said: "The focus for us is to try and win the game. Looking back at past records and results won't help us. Every game is different and the next one is so important. We have to recover physically and mentally and the players are in no doubt about the size of the game. That was only reinforced by what happened in the game earlier in the season."
Positive
Eddie Howe, manager of Newcastle United.placeholder image
Eddie Howe, manager of Newcastle United. | Getty Images.
Howe is facing a number of major selection issues ahead of Sunday’s game and has already confirmed he is yet to make a firm decision on whether to start midfielder Sandro Tonali after the Italy international picked up a hip injury during the defeat against Barcelona. Lewis Miley, Bruno Guimaraes and Fabian Schar will definitely miss out - and Howe must decide whether Anthony Gordon will continue leading his attack or hand a start to summer signings Nick Woltemade or Yoane Wissa.
Neither player has made the impact Howe would have longed for in recent weeks and both remained on the bench as the Magpies exited the Champions League in midweek. However, Howe has stressed both players have ‘good parts to play’ throughout the remainder of the season - despite stopping short of confirming whether Wissa or Woltemade could be in his starting eleven to face the Black Cats on Sunday.
He said: "Every player wants to play the biggest games. Nick has had a lot of football this year and I thought he played really well at Chelsea. Yoane has had a big injury and we haven't seen the best of him yet. Hopefully that will come. They both have good parts to play in the close of play. We will be going week to week so we will be training for the first time in a long time and that is a positive for us."
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