Sunderland against Newcastle is a derby neither dare lose... North-East clash not just a game of football for Sam Allardyce and Steve McClaren

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He will always be the last Manchester United manager to win at Maine Road and is proud of that fact but Steve McClaren will be fighting to avoid an unwanted chapter of derby history on Sunday.

For the Newcastle boss cannot afford to be the man who presides over a record-breaking sixth straight defeat against North-East rivals Sunderland.

He has tried all week to play down the magnitude of the fixture but, when reminded of his role in the Manchester derby of 2000, it stirred memories of just how special a victory over your neighbours can be.

Newcastle manager Steve McClaren has billed Sunday's Wear-Tyne derby as 'just another game'

The former England boss picked up his first win as Newcastle manager against Norwich last week

‘Sir Alex [Ferguson] had gone away to his son’s wedding in South Africa and I had to do the game,’ said McClaren, whose side won thanks to a David Beckham free-kick after just 90 seconds.

‘So that was pretty nerve-wracking and one I remember very well. I have got to thank again, as I have on other occasions, David for winning that game.

‘Sir Alex told me a few weeks beforehand that he was going away, so I didn’t sleep for a long time. He rang me from South Africa after and he’d just opened the champagne — so that is probably the highlight of all my derby matches.’

McClaren’s willingness to reflect on happier times was a welcome break from the serious and understated manner in which he chose to look ahead to Sunday's showdown, for he repeatedly stressed: ‘It’s just another game’.

Sam Allardyce takes a different approach though, insisting it is a game 'nobody wants to be on wrong side of'

New Sunderland boss Allardyce is hoping to make it six straight North-East derby victories for Sunderland

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce, whose only experience of the contest was a 1-1 draw in charge of Newcastle in 2007, disagrees.

‘It’s not just another game, far from it for me,’ he said in direct response to McClaren’s claim.

‘It’s one nobody wants to be on the wrong side of, there’s no doubt about that. It can have a more damning effect on you losing this game than any other, can’t it?’

Allardyce is right and, should Newcastle lose again, McClaren will soon realise as much.

Newcastle legend Alan Shearer also sides with Allardyce’s assessment. ‘It is just a game you cannot be beaten in. It means so much to the supporters,’ said the former manager and captain. ‘Both teams are at the wrong end of the table and can’t afford to lose. If I know Big Sam as I do, he’ll be desperate to get one over on Newcastle.’

Former Magpies boss John Carver — beaten 1-0 on Wearside last season — is another joining the queue to remind McClaren of the consequences of defeat.

‘This is a game Steve dare not lose,’ he said. ‘That night in 2007 when England lost against Croatia at Wembley to miss out on the Euros was the lowest point for him. Well, being manager of Newcastle when Sunderland beat you is just as bad — and I should know.’

Former Newcastle player and manager Alan Shearer says it is a game that both side can't afford to lose

Former Newcastle manager John Carver has warned McClaren defeat against Sunderland will be comparable to the night England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 under his management

KEY BATTLE AT STADIUM OF LIGHT

In 2007, Allardyce was already under pressure at Newcastle when they travelled to the Stadium of Light. ‘It was the last game before a two-week international break. Could you have imagined that if I hadn’t got a result? It would have been a long time to ponder on the fact we’d lost,’ said Allardyce. 

‘We were 1-0 down and I remember thinking, “Please score an equaliser. Don’t let me be the manager of Newcastle that loses this game”.

‘It was a long time since Sunderland had beaten Newcastle, so I was just grateful that we managed to get an equaliser. At the time, I didn’t know I could have made it six wins in a row for Newcastle, so I sincerely hope I get that record [for Sunderland, who have won the last five derbies] on Sunday.’

Bottom-club Sunderland are the only team in the top four divisions yet to win a game this season so defeat would mean more than the surrender of bragging rights.

Allardyce knows that relegation is a serious threat. ‘The fall out of going down is massive,’ he said. ‘You have to go through financial devastation to be able to reinvent the club.

‘It is worth £250million staying up this year. I realise my responsibility, not just with the players but with everybody at the club.’

Given that the stakes are higher than ever, a victory for McClaren might just eclipse memories of Maine Road.

Perhaps then he will admit this is more than just any other game.

Jermain Defoe scored a screaming volley to win the match for Sunderland at the Stadium of Light last season

Allardyce's only experience in a North-East derby ended 1-1 when he was in charge of Newcastle in 2007