The Wear-Tyne derby has come round again and Newcastle United's Steven Taylor is in jovial mood. The locally produced defender explained his reasons for optimism to chief football writer Paul Fraser and how he would celebrate a late goal at the Stadium of Light tomorrow

WHENEVER Newcastle United head across the Tyne and along the Wear for the latest chapter in the tale of long-standing local rivalry, the occasion never needs an introduction. Steven Taylor, the passionate Magpies defender never afraid to show his emotion on such occasions, is ready to roll again.

Tomorrow will be Taylor's sixth appearance for his beloved Newcastle against Sunderland, a club he has grown up in North Tyneside desperate to inflict despair on. This weekend's outing will be no different - and he accepts he is likely to be singled out more than most in a black and white shirt.

He will always remember, as will Sunderland supporters, the February day in 2009 when he fell to the Tyneside floor in the penalty area under a challenge from Steed Malbranque. After Taylor flexed his muscles in celebration, Shola Ameobi tucked away the spot-kick to claim Newcastle a point.

The abuse he received anyway from rival supporters suddenly reached new heights and he will not be expecting anything different when he walks off the team coach and on to Wearside soil this time around.

"Put it this way when I am warming up their fans have their veins popping out of their necks. It is like I have done something to their family or something!" said Taylor.

Many of Taylor's comments were said in good humour, with a smile of excitement and anticipation rising across his face for the two fixtures in the calendar he looks forward to more than most. Dealing with the jeers and vile comments is something both sets of players have to deal with; it comes with the territory.

"Even when I was just starting out I have always enjoyed that hostility," said Taylor, five years next month since his Wear-Tyne debut ended in a 1-1.

"Getting abuse off their fans? It doesn't bother me that much. I like that sort of thing. It won't upset me one bit. You can't do anything to get them excited. One or two of those might come on to the pitch. They can say what they want, it won't get to me."

Despite being born in Greenwich, London, his Geordie parents moved back to Whitley Bay just weeks after his birth. He went to Monkseaton High School and was spotted by Newcastle scouts playing for the reputable Cramlington Juniors and Wallsend Boys Club.

Having been part of the Newcastle system for more than 15 years, Taylor is proud of donning the colours of the club he has supported all of his life. He would, he says, never even contemplate representing the old enemy like Lee Clark, Don Hutchison, Michael Chopra have in the past.

"I would rather go and collect stamps than stick on that shirt," he said. "I have not got any friends who are Sunderland fans. As for the players, I am friendly with one or two of them from the [England] Under-21s, but that was before they signed for Sunderland!"

His memories of watching derbies of the past unfold drive his passion - and he accepts the way he hit the floor to secure Joe Kinnear's team a point three-and-a-half years ago will never be forgotten on either side of Tyne & Wear.

"After that penalty decision, they don't seem to like me, I don't know why," he said. "I think it was that penalty decision with Malbranque, it didn't go down too well. I did feel contact although it may not have looked much. I have been taught if you feel contact you go down in the box so that is what I did."

Every meeting between Newcastle and Sunderland is a tense and volatile affair. Last season the outcome at the Stadium of Light on the second weekend of the season proved pivotal for both clubs.

Tomorrow, with seven matches played by Newcastle, there is a sense the result could also have a significant bearing on the campaign ahead. Sunderland have only won one of their opening Premier League fixtures, with Newcastle only two points better off having played a game more.

Despite the closeness of the rivals in the standings, Taylor believes Newcastle have the greater team.

He said: "We have said it all the time. Even last year the gaffer said it, he has our team above Sunderland. Not even one player, not even one player on their bench, would get into our starting XI.

"That is the quality we possess. It is all very well having that but we have to go out and deliver that. That is down to the players. It is alright saying 'yes, the team sheet looks great' but you have to go and perform."

Taylor's view is open to debate. Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill, for one, is likely to disagree, particularly as he paid an initial £10m for Adam Johnson and £12m for striker Steven Fletcher.

In terms of transfer fees, only Newcastle skipper Fabricio Coloccini (£10.3m) and Papiss Cisse (£9m) cost somewhere near O'Neill's two biggest purchases.

But Taylor joked: "Adam Johnson is a very good player. I played with him at England Under-21 level and he is very attack-minded. He knows all about this game being from Middlesbrough. Would we swap our wingers for him? No, no! He can come in our reserves if he wants to."

With the exception of Newcastle's £6m buy Vurnon Anita, the team which starts at Sunderland for manager Alan Pardew is likely to be made up of players who have all experienced a Wear-Tyne match-up.

Despite the fact that many of those will be foreign players, Taylor thinks that could prove crucial. He said: "Last season we did need to explain what it was all about. This year it doesn't need introducing to anyone.

"The foreign lads have bought into everything. I was a bit nervous last year because I didn't know if they would adjust to it. It doesn't matter how many times you tell someone it is a big game, it is only when they step out on the pitch that they realise it is as hostile as it is.

"After seeing the Senegal-Ivory Coast game last weekend it could well be as heated as that ... but without the flying rocks, tear gas and fires! I don't think the foreign players realise at first that this is the biggest game of the season.

"You can't understand what it means until you have played in one. It is not just a match. It is when you walk around the city and go to a restaurant it is all people talk to you about."

Taylor was a starter when Kieran Richardson struck a late free-kick winner in October 2008 to seal Sunderland's first home win over Newcastle in 28 years.

"I played in that when Richardson scored the free kick," he said. "If you lose that game it affects the team, all the players, the whole of the city. It is difficult to forget about it. You can't go to your local Waitrose.

"You are constantly reminded of it. The fans hate it if you lose. They have to go to work. It is up to us as players to make sure that doesn't happen and we have to give the fans a good weekend."

Should Taylor find himself in a similar position to Richardson did four years ago scoring a late winner, how would he celebrate his decisive goal? He said: "I think I would run straight down the tunnel and get out of there in one piece. With the three points in my back pocket."