Sunderland 1 - 1 Newcastle
KO: Sun Oct 21 13:30:00 BST 2012 Ground: Stadium of LightAtt: 47456 Referee: M Atkinson live on sky sports Sky Sports 3D, Sky Sports 1 HDD Ba 86 ogY Cabaye 3C Tiote s/o 25
Derby Countdown: Sunderland v Newcastle United Preview
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Sunderland host Newcastle United in the Wear-Tyne derby for the 147th meeting between the sides.
It is fair to say there is no love lost between the two North East neighbours, with local bragging rights considered to be as important as the three points at stake.
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Sunderland will need no reminding that they have had little to cheer against their arch-rivals in recent times, with just one victory taken from the last 15 meetings between the two clubs.
They have, however, made a steady start to the current campaign, suffering only one defeat, and would clamber above Newcastle with victory this weekend.
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The Magpies will be desperate to avoid such an occurrence, with their focus locked on closing on a top four that has already edged five points clear.
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Sunderland winger James McClean will be in contention for derby duty after shaking off a groin injury.
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Full-back Phil Bardsley could also make the squad after returning to action for the Under-21s side following an ankle injury which has sidelined him since pre-season, but defender Titus Bramble is a doubt with a hip flexor problem and skipper Lee Cattermole completes his three-match ban.
Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini and Tim Krul all returned to training with Newcastle during the week, handing Alan Pardew a pre-derby boost.
Taylor is back from a calf injury picked up against Reading, Coloccini has been nursing a hamstring complaint for several weeks and Krul sustained an elbow injury while on international duty with Holland.
All could, however, be back at the Stadium of the Light, while Shane Ferguson is also in contention after being forced to withdraw from the Northern Ireland squad.
Papiss Cisse, Demba Ba and Cheick Tiote have all returned from international duty unscathed, but Pardew may decide to drop one of Cisse and Ba in favour of derby specialist Shola Ameobi.Sunderland winger James McClean will be in contention for derby duty after shaking off a groin injury.
The 23-year-old was ruled out of the Republic of Ireland's 6-1 defeat by Germany with the ailment, and was not risked for Tuesday's trip to the Faroe Islands, but Martin O'Neill considers him to be fit and available.
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The game is live on Sky Sports One HD and kicks off at 1:30pm.
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An early goal from Yohan Cabaye and a late own-goal from Demba Ba meant the 147th meeting between Sunderland and Newcastle United ended in a 1-1 draw.
Cabaye scored after just three minutes, pouncing on a loose ball in the Sunderland area to calmly give his side the lead.
Newcastle stubbornly held on after that following Cheick Tiote's first-half red card for a foul on Steven Fletcher.
Sunderland dominated the second half but could not find a way through.
That was until Sebastian Larsson's free kick was turned onto Ba's head and the deflection carried past a stranded Tim Krul to even up the score.
