Wear-Tyne derby: Sunderland to host Newcastle United in FA Youth Cup clash

The young Black Cats face Newcastle in the fifth round of the competition at Eppleton Colliery Welfare, in Hetton, tomorrow (7pm kick-off).

Sunderland go into the Wear-Tyne derby on the back of a 5-1 league thrashing to Boro at the weekend.

And coach Elliott Dickman has demanded a reaction from his players.

Reflecting on the Middlesbrough defeat, Dickman said: “It was always going to be a tough game.

“I thought we started the game quite well and we had quite a lot of the ball but we just couldn’t break them down or hurt them.

“We have learned a lot about the players and it’s important now we try to develop the players about the experience and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” added Dickman ahead of the game.

Centre-back Alex Storey described the defeat to Middlesbrough as a “massive learning curve” but has backed his teammates to bounce back.

He said: “We have got to get together as a team and make sure we respond and put in a much better performance against them.

“Hopefully we can turn the result into a positive and use it as motivation to get back to winning ways, starting against Newcastle.”

Sunderland reached the fifth round after beating Shrewsbury Town 3-1 earlier this month.

The young Black Cats took the lead with an 11th-minute strike from Lee Connelly before the visitors equalised when George Hassall headed home an Aaron Gilpin cross.

On the hour mark, Sunderland regained the lead with a second from Connelly, who finished well after Callum Roberts tackled Josh Maja.

Sunderland added a killer third goal when Connelly set up Elliot Embleton to fire home.

Entry to Wednesday night’s game is priced at £3 for adults and just £1 for supporters over 65 and under 16. Turnstiles will open from 6pm.

Supporters are advised that, due to competition rules, there is no free entry for season card holders for this game.