WITH the pressure on Graeme Souness likely to reach fever pitch if the Magpies lose at home to Sunderland tomorrow, the Newcastle manager is doing his very best to remain calm - in public at least.

But is it any wonder? This is a football boss who has experienced some of the most volatile derby encounters and, largely, emerged from them with his reputation intact.

Whether as a manager or a player, he has had a part in Rangers-Celtic, Liverpool-Everton and Benfica-Sporting Lisbon meetings.

Surpassing all of those, though, was during his days in Turkey. After the hostile Istanbul derby he infuriated Fenerbahce supporters by running into the centre circle and stabbing a Galatasaray flag in the ground.

That incident has ensured he is still a hero at Galatasaray but he is not about to go down a similar path tomorrow, when Sunderland arrive at St James' Park.

Nevertheless it is an incident which has prepared Souness for every eventuality when the Black Cats make the short trip to Tyneside.

"I've got good memories of derbies because I enjoy the big atmosphere," said Souness. "If I do stop being involved in the game, I'd still go and watch. I like to watch derbies, they bring out the best and worst in people.

"I've never been to a Newcastle-Sunderland game, so it'll be something different for me. It's exciting, Sunderland's only ten miles from here and there's enormous rivalry between the teams."

Having lost at Wigan last weekend and been outplayed at Portsmouth seven days earlier, Souness knows supporters are ready to turn on him if three points are not forthcoming tomorrow.

Some sections of St James' are already demanding his removal from the managerial chair and chairman Freddy Shepherd could be left in an impossible situation come Sunday night.

However, Souness insists he does not feel any more pressure on his shoulders ahead of the 125th Tyne-Wear derby and is just concentrating on keeping his squad focused on the job in hand.

Having spent almost £50m since taking over and eradicated a couple of the club's disruptive members, the Scot believes there is now a tremendous feeling of togetherness around the place.

"I don't make that decision, that's up to somebody else, I won't be taking it (whether he is sacked)," said Souness, whose life has been made more difficult by the injury to Michael Owen.

"There's pressure in life as well as football, it's how you deal with it, so I don't feel any extra pressure on this game in particular.

"From the group of players I inherited, certain ones wanted to point the finger at other people, it was always someone else's fault. There's not an issue now. I'm a lot more confident going into this game with this bunch of players than I might have been."

Read more about Newcastle United FC here.