MICHAEL BEALE cannot wait for his first taste of the Wear-Tyne derby on Saturday – and has urged his Sunderland players to “do the fans proud” when they take on Newcastle United at the Stadium of Light.

Saturday lunchtime’s FA Cup third-round tie will be the first meeting between Sunderland and Newcastle for almost eight years, and pits a Black Cats team pushing for promotion in the Championship against a Magpies line-up that was competing in the Champions League last month.

The derby has traditionally been a great leveller though, and Beale is confident his young side will rise to the challenge when they run out in front of a sold-out stadium at the weekend.

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“There’s a lot of ambition in our dressing room, with players that want to go on and play in the Premier League and Champions League,” said the Sunderland boss, who has overseen two victories, a draw and a defeat in his first four matches on Wearside.

“Well, they’re coming up against a team at the weekend that has been heavily invested in for that, and has played in the Champions League this season. What an opportunity it is for those young players to go and get feedback, and for them to really do our fans proud in this game. It’s a fantastic cup tie.

“I’m really looking forward to the game. I have been since the draw came out. You could feel the anticipation building, and now we’re at game week, I think on both sides everyone is looking forward to the game. It’s the first derby in more than seven years, which is far too long. It’s the beauty of the FA Cup that’s brought the game, and it’s one that everybody in the nation will be watching. It’s a great game to be involved in, for sure.”

While Sunderland will start Saturday’s game as underdogs given their position in the league below their opponents, they will be boosted by a raucous home support and find themselves facing a Newcastle side who have had a rocky couple of months, exiting both the Champions League and Carabao Cup and winning just one of their last seven games.

To further boost morale in the home ranks, Sunderland are unbeaten in their last nine derby matches against Newcastle, with their last defeat to their bitterest rivals having come back in August 2011.

“It’s not (derby record) something that’s been put to me, we just need to take each game as it goes,” said Beale. “But as a football club, and with our young players, we’re really ambitious.

“We’re playing against a very good team, but we are playing for our fans and our city, so it’s really important that we put that into the performance, in terms of our focus, concentration and quality. We know it’s going to be a really tough game, but it’s at our stadium, with our fans behind us, so there’s everything to like about this game.”