Simpson eyes derby spoils
Newcastle full-back Danny Simpson has prescribed a dose of derby day glory as the perfect antidote to their Europa League heartache.
The 26-year-old and his team-mates came agonisingly close to clawing their way past Benfica and into the semi-finals on Thursday evening before a last-gasp Eduardo Salvio goal halted their late charge.
However, despite their disappointment, the Magpies have been able to take positives from their near miss - they came within two minutes of being the first team to beat the Portuguese league leaders in any competition since October - and will head into Sunday's clash with Sunderland gunning for their relegation-threatened neighbours.
Simpson said: "That's just going to give us a big lift for Sunday, in all honesty. We have got a couple of days to recover now, but our performance and the fans and the energy and the effort we put in, it's just got us ready.
"We are champing at the bit for Sunday now. They are probably the best games I have been involved in. It just means so much to everyone. You can feel it.
"They are very special and I have been fortunate to have won a couple and drawn a couple.
"We have had a good week - we beat Fulham and had a good performance on Thursday night and were unfortunate not to go through.
"We have set ourselves up nicely for Sunday now to give it a right go and I am sure the fans will be up for it as well."
The game will be a first opportunity for January signings Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Mathieu Debuchy - provided he has shaken off a hamstring problem - Massadio Haidara, Moussa Sissoko and Yoan Gouffran to sample the unique atmosphere of the Tyne-Wear derby.
Boss Alan Pardew has tried to tell them what to expect, but admits they probably did not understand until they experienced something of a dress rehearsal in the Benfica game.
He said: "In some ways, it was because it was an unbelievable atmosphere.
"You can only really liken it to a Sunderland game or a European game here years ago when Sir Bobby [Robson] was manager."
Pardew is hopeful of having central defender Steven Taylor fit.
Taylor missed Thursday night's 1-1 draw with Benfica with a knee problem but could return for the Tyne-Wear showdown, while midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa (hamstring) has shown no ill-effects from his second-half cameo against the Portuguese side.
Pardew was playing his cards close to his chest over injuries with full-back Debuchy and midfielder Cheick Tiote working their way back from hamstring problems, but while striker Gouffran, who was ineligible for the Benfica game, will be back in the squad, defenders Davide Santon (hamstring) and Fabricio Coloccini (back) are expected to miss out once again.
Simon Mignolet admits he cannot believe Sunderland will head into the trip to Newcastle facing a desperate fight against relegation.
The 24-year-old Belgium international has been arguably the Black Cats' stand-out player during a difficult campaign, but even his heroics have not been able to prevent the club from slipping into the thick of the scrap for top-flight survival.
Defeat at St James' Park would leave Paolo di Canio's men in deep trouble with just five games in which to save themselves, and when Mignolet looks around the dressing room, he finds that situation difficult to fathom.
Asked if he was surprised at their league position, he said: "Yes, if you see the individual qualities of every single player.
"Obviously, we didn't hope to be where we are now. With the qualities we have, we shouldn't be there."
However, Mignolet's belief that the players, whose performances so far this season cost former manager Martin O'Neill his job a little less than a fortnight ago, are better than results suggest means he is confident they can dig themselves out of a hole.
He said: "Yes, of course, that's fair enough to say. We have more than enough ability in the team to get the points we want before the end of the season."
Di Canio will be without suspended midfielder Craig Gardner.
Gardner collected his 10th booking of the season during last weekend's 2-1 Barclays Premier League defeat at Chelsea and will sit out the game at St James' Park and Everton's visit to the Stadium of Light.
Di Canio will hope for better news of defender Carlos Cuellar (ankle) and striker Danny Graham (knee), who have trained this week, although frontman Connor Wickham is a doubt with an unspecified knock picked up at Stamford Bridge.
Source: DSG
