NYRON NOSWORTHY has identified former Sunderland team-mate Julio Arca as the man to restrict if Middlesbrough are to be thwarted in tomorrow's Tees-Wear derby.

The North Sea neighbours are well aware of the threat posed by the little Argentine, not least by the fact he was responsible for scoring the second of Sunderland's goals in a 2-0 victory on their last visit to the Riverside Stadium two years ago.

Nosworthy will be the only member of that Black Cats team named in Roy Keane's starting line-up tomorrow, when Arca will be looking to put one over his former employers in a Boro shirt.

After a slow start to life on Teesside, when he broke his foot on his debut at Reading on the opening day of last season, the South American has emerged as one of Gareth Southgate's key men.

That, clearly, is also Sunderland manager Roy Keane's view, given that he was rebuffed in the summer by Middlesbrough after making a £2m bid for his services. It was a development that led to Southgate making an off the cuff remark that it would take £10m to even make him consider selling, something not lost on Nosworthy.

"Julio was pretty much the man at Sunderland," said the defender, whose only season with Arca was that which ended in calamitous relegation after totalling just 15 points.

"The crowd loved him. He has a very gifted left foot and is aware of everything going on around him on the pitch. The great thing about him is that he is genuinely a nice person with it.''