Mark Atkinson his targeting back-to-back victories in the mini Tyne-Wear derby this afternoon, KO 1pm.
Sunderland under-18s head through to Tyneside riding the crest of a morale boosting wave following victory over Liverpool on Saturday.
Chris Allan and Ben Kimpioka struck as the young Black Cats came from behind to defeat the Reds and halt a run of four straight defeats.
For the Magpies, though, they head into today’s match on the back of four league defeats having conceded eight goals in their previous two matches.
And with confidence high in the Black Cats’ camp, Atkinson has told safc.com he is keen to make amends for the FA Youth Cup defeat this afternoon.
“We have spoken to the boys about what we expect from them,” he said.
“We have played Newcastle twice this season and both of them were close games.
“The one here in the league was a tight affair and obviously the thriller of the youth cup was another close game.
“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb and in the end we just couldn’t do it.”
He continued: “It’s a derby game so it always means a bit extra, the lads have set themselves a target to climb the league and build momentum going into the next round of groups.”
