Allardyce's options seem to be reduced (or so says the official report from the club), with defender Cacapa "a doubt with a knee injury".
So Geordie-boy Steven Taylor looks odds on to play in the important derby that will certainly have a high tempo and plenty of passion.
Allardyce: "The situation we are in at the moment, on the back of two defeats and going into a north-east derby, this is as big a game for the players as it is for the fans.
"I know the players know what it means to the fans whether they have been in this country for a long time or have only just arrived.
"The players will already be telling the others who have only just arrived just how big this one is - and a lot of the staff here, who are Newcastle fans.
"They will be telling the players, 'Hey, come on, I have got to go out on Saturday night and I don't want those Sunderland fans taking the mickey out of me'.
"A local derby can, on occasions, make a player freeze by the passion and emotion of it and the nerves can perhaps get the better of him.
"We have got to make sure we guard against that and use the energy involved around this game as a positive energy to bring the best out of us."