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A traditional Saturday afternoon kick-off sees Stoke City seek to spook St James’, a ground that has historically haunted the Potters; they’ve only been treated to a single win in their last ten visits.
Newcastle come into this on the back of a horror show of a derby in which antagonist Robert Madley cruelly culled any hopes of victory, granting Sunderland a Tyne-Wear derby record six-in-a-row, and preventing escape from the depths of the relegation zone, for that week at least.
“You must always recover. We beat Norwich 6-2 and now we want to win against Stoke City. We’ve trained hard and worked hard.
“We have lost the derby, that’s the situation. We have to deal with it now.”
– Steve McClaren
We currently languish in 19th, two goal difference behind our rivals from Wearside, and two points adrift of the hallowed turf of 17th, currently occupied by Bournemouth. A win could take us as high as 16th, at least until Sunday when the three teams around us all play in separate fixtures.
Stoke endured two hours of defensive duties against Chelsea on Tuesday, eventually emerging victorious after the game went to penalties. Three days before they dominated possession, but not the scoreline against Watford, losing 0-2. Owing to a four match winning streak before this, they currently sit in the lofty heights of the lower mid-table in 14th.
“I thought they were the better team at Sunderland before the sending off. They will think they were hard done by and will want to put that right.
“Prior to that game, their last one at St James’ Park, they had a big win [6-2 over Norwich City] and they will still be buoyed by that victory.”
– Mark Hughes