The 27-year-old has missed the last two games through suspension, and that alone shows he has a short fuse.
Cattermole has once again missed a significant proportion of the campaign to date through injury, and it wouldn't take much to get him biting.
Dick Advocaat: "He was the only one I told at the team meeting this morning that he will play, so he knows.
"Definitely they missed him because he did not play for 10 or 11 games. He had 10 weeks out - that's quite a long time.
"He is the controller of the team and a player with experience, so for the team it is good, not only as a player, but also as a person, that he's back in the team."
Sunderland are sitting just a point clear of the Barclays Premier League relegation zone with eight games to play and in desperate need of the three points to avoid another desperate scrap for top-flight survival.
Cattermole is always a key man in derby games, and the obvious tactic would be to hit him early doors.
Will it happen?
While Advocaat has been boosted by Cattermole's return, he will be without central defender Wes Brown, who faces up to a month on the sidelines with a knee injury.