Gordon: We're ready for Newcastle
Craig Gordon is confident there will be no hangover from Monday's loss at Manchester City when Sunderland embark on tomorrow's Wear-Tyne derby.
Manager Roy Keane was damning in his summary of the team's performance at City, feeling they lacked bravery and imagination in attack.
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A derby is rarely remembered for imagination, but bravery will certainly be required in a cauldron Stadium of Light atmosphere tomorrow.
Gordon said: "The derby's a good game for us in some ways after the disappointment of Monday. Everything that goes before a derby is largely irrelevant. It's true that the form book goes out of the window.
"I know I'm not the first person to say that, but it's the way it is. The two teams selected to play will know they have to give absolutely everything to the cause.
"The fans will expect and demand total commitment, and I know they'll get it from our lads."
This will be Gordon's first Wear-Tyne derby, but he knows plenty about what these games respresent to the two sets of supporters.
He featured in 15 Edinburgh derbies for Hearts against Hibs, winning eight of them with six of those victories coming at home. Of his four losses, only one of them was at Tynecastle.
"On the whole, I had a pretty good record in the Edinburgh derby," said Gordon, a boyhood Hearts fan. "I won more than I lost and it would be nice to bring that record into my derbies with Sunderland.
"I know I'm not from the North East, but nobody needs to tell me what this means to the fans because of all the Edinburgh derbies I experienced.
"They're the most important games of the season for a lot of supporters."
While Gordon's focus is on keeping an elusive clean sheet – Sunderland have managed only one this season and that was in the first game of the campaign– he recognises that his side also needs a few breaks in front of goal.
"We didn't create too much at Manchester City," he said. "We would have liked to create a few more chances. A few breaks might have gone our way. At this level, what chances you create you have to take, and we were unable to do that on Monday."
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Weather for Sunderland
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -3 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South west
