THE nearest thing to a derby experienced by Sunderland's Nyron Nosworthy in the past has been Millwall and Gillingham's head-to-heads in the Championship last season.

Not surprisingly Nosworthy expects Sunday's meeting of two old North-East adversaries to be a completely different proposition - and he is preparing to suffer a case of deafness for at least 90 minutes.

The right-back travels with the rest of the Sunderland squad to face Newcastle United this weekend, the first meeting between the two sides in two-and-a-half-years, and he has been warned what to expect.

But Nosworthy claims to be ready and excited about the challenge that lies ahead, despite conceding the atmosphere of February's goalless draw between Gillingham and Millwall should not even be compared.

"That's a big one down there but it doesn't compare with the one which is coming this weekend, this is one of the biggest around," said the 25-year-old, who left the Gills in the summer on a free transfer.

"I have been told that the crowd will be so loud that, when we shout to each other on the pitch, we won't be able to hear each other over the noise.

"I have been told that I won't be able to hear myself think on Sunday. It will be a high-tempo game with a lot of passion. This will be totally new to me."

Having being tested by the skilful wing play of Cristiano Ronaldo and Ji-Sung Park during Saturday's defeat to Manchester United, Nosworthy fears nothing from Newcastle.

The Sunderland defence are likely to find themselves up against one of the Premiership's most feared strikeforces for the second week in a row - this time Alan Shearer and Michael Owen.

But Nosworthy is excited, rather than intimidated, by the prospect. "We know if we play like we did against Man United against most teams we will come away with something. We all have to keep our heads up," he said.

"The fans would be happy with us beating Middlesbrough and Newcastle. That and staying up would do us all. This is a huge game because Newcastle are our local rivals but we have to treat them just as another team and we have to tackle it the same.

"It will be good to test myself against Alan Shearer and Michael Owen. These are the kind of players I have grown up watching on television and I'm really enjoying coming up against them every weekend in the Premiership. I will be looking to prove a point against them."

Initially, when he signed from Gillingham, Nosworthy accepted that he was only going to be back-up to Stephen Wright in the Sunderland side this season.

But, after Wright sustained a knee injury in the first game against Charlton, Nosworthy has played every game since and is not willing to move aside when the former Liverpool full-back returns to training in two weeks.

"I knew that if he wasn't injured and that if he was playing well, Stephen Wright would be in the team," said Nosworthy. "I came here to train well and work hard, do well for the reserves and compete with him for a place in the team, but I knew it would be difficult. It was a case of waiting for my chance and it came a lot quicker than I expected. I feel differently about it now. I'm in the team. I have been given my chance and I think I have taken it.

"I just have to continue playing well and playing every game as if I want to keep my place in the team, which I obviously do."

* Over 40,000 tickets have been sold for next Tuesday's Carling Cup clash with Arsenal. Those remaining are still priced at the special rate of £5 for adults and £1 for juniors.

* England have moved back into the top-ten of FIFA's world rankings after qualifying for the World Cup finals.

Sven-Goran Eriksson's side have climbed from 11th to joint-ninth on the latest list, which could help their seeding for the finals in Germany next year.

The Republic of Ireland remain 21st despite their failure to qualify for the finals which cost manager Brian Kerr his job on Tuesday.

Scotland are among the biggest movers, improving from 74th to 62nd on the back of away victories over Austria and Slovenia, although the home defeat to Belarus ensured they would not make the 2006 finals.

Wales are up nine places to 73rd after their first wins of the qualifying campaign against Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan, while Northern Ireland drop three places to 104th. Brazil and Holland retain the top two places.

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