Desire and belief key to arresting a dire derby run

IT’S a tale of two cities whose bitter rivalry can be traced all the way back to the English Civil War.

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Liam O'Brien after his free-kick won the game for Newcastle at Roker Park in 1992

Now hostilities are about to break out again between Newcastle and Sunderland on the modern-day battlefield with the return of the Premier League derby for the first time in nine years.Sunderland’s demotion into the Championship and beyond into the wilderness of League One has meant a break in hostilities bar a fleeting FA Cup tie of unequal proportions.

As we wait with eager anticipation for one of football’s great confrontations, United must brace themselves to challenge and overcome a horrendous recent record.

The Magpies have failed to win a Tyne-Wear PL derby in their last NINE attempts - three draws have sandwiched a startling run of six successive defeats.

The key stats tell us that the last league derby was in March 2016 (a 1-1 draw at home) and Newcastle's last victory, significantly on Wearside, by 1-0 in August of 2011 (Ryan Taylor over the wall).

However, Eddie Howe and his current jousters may prefer to remember going down the road a couple of years back in the third round of the FA Cup and strolling to a 3-0 victory when Sunderland were living a division down. The gulf in class was there for all to see. It isn’t now.