Newcastle United defender Kieran Trippier has admitted he would love to 'taste' a Tyne-Wear derby, having spoken to the Magpies' Geordie players about the prospect.
Sunderland were close to returning to the Premier League for the first time since 2017 this year but Tony Mowbray's men were beaten by the eventual Championship play-off winners Luton Town in the semi-finals.
The Black Cats had only just returned to the Championship having spent four seasons in League One, but fans on both sides of the divide were thinking about the prospect of a first derby match since March 2016, as Sunderland flirted with a Premier League return.
Trippier, too, found himself thinking about the prospect and spoke to Newcastle's Geordie contingent - the likes of Paul Dummett, Sean Longstaff, Dan Burn, Elliot Anderson, Mark Gillespie and Jacob Murphy about what to expect from a derby clash.
"I was speaking to the Geordie lads and they were saying how good it is," Trippier told Jill Scott's Coffee Club. "When they were in the play-offs, with Middlesbrough as well, you want the rivals in the same league.
"I would love to taste that derby. I wasn't supporting them but for the city it would have been good to get a big derby in the league again and I would, of course, love to play in one.
"That's the pressure. When you play your local rivals, for the supporters, it is everything. I have played in the North London one, I've been lucky enough to play in the Madrid one as well, and I think when the fixtures come out that is all the supporters look for."
Newcastle haven't won a derby match against Sunderland since August 2011, when Ryan Taylor's famous free-kick goal proved to be the difference in a 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light.
