SUNDERLAND centre-back Joachim Bjorklund has warned there will be no hiding place in tomorrow's Tyne-Wear showdown at St. James' Park.

Bjorklund was given an early taste of the passions aroused by the fixture when the bitter rivals met at the Stadium of Light in February shortly after his arrival from Italian side Venezia in a £1.5m deal.

Newcastle avenged two successive 2-1 home defeats by Sunderland thanks to a solitary goal from central defender Nikos Dabizas.

But derbies are nothing new to Swedish international Bjorklund, who played for Rangers in Old Firm battles with Celtic.

"I played in a derby against Newcastle last season and have played for Rangers against Celtic, so I know what to expect,'' said Bjorklund.

"This is the closest you get to the passion of an Old Firm game and there will be a lot of pressure surrounding Saturday's meeting.

"I also played in derbies in Spain and Italy, but they didn't quite produce the passion and atmosphere of the Glasgow or North-East derbies - they are special games."

With Newcastle second bottom and Sunderland only a place and a point above them - albeit having played a game more - the heat is on both sides to avoid defeat.

Sunderland go into the game on the back of a 3-0 derby defeat at Middlesbrough and a home setback against Fulham by the same scoreline.

But Bjorklund insists that Newcastle, who have now suffered three successive defeats without scoring in all competitions, are carrying a greater burden of expectation.

"This is a huge match, but the pressure really is on Newcastle because they are at home and their fans will expect them to win,'' he said.

"As a team, we will try to prepare for this game as we would any other.

"There are only three points at stake, but you would be a liar if you said this was just another game in the season because we know it means so much to everyone in this area."

Bjorklund, the Black Cats' most consistent defender this season, maintains that disgruntled fans should take their frustrations out on the team rather than under-fire boss Peter Reid.

After collecting five points from their first four games, including victory at Leeds and a home draw with Manchester United, Sunderland's season has suddenly gone into reverse thrust.

There were fresh calls for Reid to go during the Fulham debacle last Saturday and the pressure on the manager will intensify if Sunderland lose to their sworn enemies.

But Bjorklund is adamant that Reid has been let down by individual errors from players who are guilty of dereliction of duty.

He said: "It's not the manager who has made the bad pass or the silly mistakes on the pitch that have cost us goals. We must accept we have not done our jobs.

"I think, of the six goals we have conceded in the last two games, five of them have been give-aways that were down to errors rather than poor organisation as a whole in the team.

"We've talked about it as a team and we know we have to stay strong and battle. The way we started in the first four games, we looked like a solid side."

Sunderland yesterday announced they had sold their allocation of tickets for the game at Arsenal on Sunday, October 6.

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