Source: Daily_Mail
Newcastle are a striker light but Alan Pardew targets a win in first derby against Sunderland
Alan Pardew will sample his first Wear-Tyne derby as Newcastle manager tomorrow. And preparations for the re-match after his side's 5-1 win in October could not have been much worse.[LNB]While his opposite number Steve Bruce will parade a £25million strike-force at the Stadium of Light, and ponders whether to gamble on the fitness of Manchester United's on-loan striker Danny Welbeck, Pardew is without talismanic top scorer Andy Carroll.[LNB]A sunny break in Dubai, total rest from the training ground, and a week in the pool and gym have made little difference to the thigh strain which has been troubling Carroll for most of the season. [LNB]And a week which started with the news that he would be without Steven Taylor and influential midfielder Cheik Tiote, after the appeal for his dismissal at Stevenage failed, took another turn for the worse yesterday morning. [LNB] High hopes: Peter Lovenkrands hurdles Fabricio Coloccini[LNB]As Pardew took his players through their penultimate training session, Carroll's obvious replacement Shola Ameobi turned his ankle again, and was withdrawn immediately from the practice starting line-up. [LNB]Ameobi made way for Peter Lovenkrands but returned gingerly on the opposite side before the end of the session. [LNB]He will be put through his paces again today before Pardew decides if he can partner Leon Best. [LNB]Whatever difficulties Pardew and the Newcastle squad are facing before the 143rd league meeting between the teams (Newcastle have 52 wins to Sunderland's 44), Bruce is too experienced to allow any complacency to creep in before the noon kick-off. [LNB]In any case, the scars of that defeat at St James' Park are still raw. [LNB] Losing focus: Steve Bruce (right) fumes at St James's Park [LNB]It was the silence after the 5-1 defeat that hit Sunderland players the most. Outsidetheir dressing room, Newcastle fans were singing anti-Mackem tunes each verse a stab to Bruce's heart who stood before his players, too upset to talk. [LNB]'He was angry,' said winger Kieran Richardson as he recalled the darkest day in Sunderland's derby history. [LNB]'He was speechless and I can't even remember the words he did say. The dressing room was just silent. [LNB]'He has a lot of passion for the club and you can see it every day. We admire that. He's a Geordie and because of that I think he wanted to win very badly, to show Sunderlandfans he cares. It was awful. We had to wait for our bus and we could hear their fans singing and chanting and it wasn't nice.' [LNB]Bruce knew he was in trouble when Jordan Henderson could hardly breathe after his first meaningful run of the match. [LNB]'Jordan can run up and down like the wind,' he said. 'I just remember him trying to get back and thinking we were struggling. I looked at Elmohamady and Welbeck, a few of them, and they were the same. [LNB]'I just associated it with playing in my first FA Cup semi-final against Oldham. It was boiling hot and I just remember being absolutely hopeless from the first minute.[LNB]'I looked round next to me and shouted at Pally, 'You'd better be on your guard because there is something not happening with me', and he was worse.' [LNB]Bruce said he hopes Pardew enjoys his first North East derby as much as he 'enjoyed' his. [LNB]But the former Crystal Palace boss said: 'My derby record's pretty good. Palace v Wimbledon might not be too high on the agenda here, but I always did OK and as a manager at West Ham, we beat Spurs a couple of times, which was the big fixture there.[LNB]'It will be a case of stepping out at Sunderland and meeting the challenge head on.'[LNB] Revenge missions: Why Sunderland can bounce back from derby drubbingBlow for Newcastle as Carroll fails to recover for Sunderland showdownAll the latest Newcastle news, features and opinionAll the latest Sunderland news, features and opinion[LNB] Explore more:People: Steve Bruce, Danny Welbeck, Andy Carroll, Steven Taylor, Leon Best Places: Newcastle, Dubai
