Shola the Mackem-slayer set for derby day return?

The good news is, and I can hardly believe that I am going to say this, is that Shola Ameobi should be fit to return to action against Sunderland at the weekend.

Love him or hate him, and there are plenty of people who fall into both categories, it can't be denied that Shola has a canny knack of finding the back of the net against the filthy inbreeds from down the road.

But the good news with with regard to injuries doesn't stop there. Jonas Gutierrez will also be back in action, which means we thankfully won't have to witness Joey Barton shoved out on the left again, whilst Jose Enrique will be fit to return after the recovering from the bout of flu that kept him out of the FA Cup exit at Stevenage.

Shola bagged a brace during the 5-1 humping dished out to Sunderland back in October. He also scored against them in the "historic" 2-1 victory that Sunderland managed to record back in 2008. Shola found the net against the filth again in that season when he netted from the penalty spot in the 1-1 draw at St James' Park.

Shola may look leggy, lazy and lethargic, but he pulls his finger out against Sunderland in almost every game against them. I just hope that my effusive praise of the Fenham Eusebio doesn't come back to bit me on the bottom come 2pm Sunday afternoon.

It's not all about Shola though to be fair. As mentioned earlier, there are other players who are returning to action in what is set to be a white-hot fixture at the Stadium of Shite.

"The injury news is looking positive for us and we should have some important players back," Pardew informed The Journal. "Shola Ameobi should be fit now, Jonas will be fine and Jose Enrique should be available too."

"It will be a boost to have Shola back. He is going to train on Friday and that is what we are working towards at the moment - although there is a couple of days' work to be done there."

As you may have read on here Link text, Dan Gosling came through 70 minutes of his return unscathed. I had thought that the derby on Sunday would have come too early for the lad, but it appears that he is in Alan Pardew's thoughts for the match against Sunderland.

"The other positive for us is that Dan Gosling came back and he is certainly looking good. I couldn't really use him over Christmas without getting some minutes under his belt, but he's given me something to think about."

So there is at least some good news on the injury front as we head into a derby in which the red and white enemy will be foaming themselves into a frenzy in anticipation of dishing out some payback after what happened to them last time.

News on Andy Carroll's fitness will no doubt arrive later on in the week, but if he is fit for the game then suddenly our prospects look a whole lot more rosy for the match against Sunderland.

Stay tuned for more derby day build-up, only on www.nufcblog.info!