Strong start key for Pardew

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew says his side must start their derby against Sunderland better than they did against Manchester United.

Pardew’s men found themselves two goals down inside 15 minutes against the Red Devils before slumping to a 3-0 defeat last week.

And Pardew anticipates an ‘electric pace’ from the first whistle at the Stadium of Light on Sunday.

“The most important thing at Sunderland is to not get lost at the start of the game, which we did against Man United,” Pardew told the Evening Chronicle.

“My experience of these type of games is they start at an electric pace. We must be ready for them. We need to try to get a grip during that early period.”

Pardew hopes his defence will be boosted by the return of three linchpins in goalkeeper Tim Krul and centre-backs Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini, who all missed the United clash.

“Hopefully all three will be back (in training) on Wednesday,” he said.

The former Southampton boss also recognised that Newcastle would benefit from Senegal’s failure to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, which means the Premier League club will not lose Demba Ba or Papiss Cisse to the tournament.

“It was the most important game of the weekend,” Pardew said.