I am no fan of Pardew, never have been ... and probably never will be.
February’s 3-0 home defeat to Gus Poyet’s Sunderland was the first time the club had lost a three successive derby games since 1924.
And Pardew knows a fourth defeat to Sunderland is unthinkable.
Alan Pardew: “The derby obviously has great importance for us and our fans, but there’s a long wait for the first game.
“It’s a key game for us, we know that, but there’s a lot of games before then. It comes on the back of a tough run.”
Newcastle visit the Stadium of Light on April 4, though both fixtures could be move for live broadcast.