CHANCEL MBEMBA and Steven Taylor are set to be Newcastle United’s centre-half’s pairing for Sunday’s Tyne-Wear derby against Sunderland.

But Magpies skipper Fabricio Coloccini, who was sent off in his side’s 3-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light earlier this season, is set to miss out as he continues to battle against injury.

Coloccini is struggling with a calf problem and did not train earlier today. He could return to training in the morning, but is unlikely to be risked as Newcastle look to end a six-game losing run against their regional rivals.

Mbemba was back in training today, and is set to make his first start since February 3 as the Magpies look to haul themselves above their rivals and out of the bottom three.

Taylor sat out today’s training session after suffering a knock, but the centre-half should be okay for Sunday and is expected to get the nod ahead of Jamaal Lascelles.

Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez said: “We have another training session to go, but Mbemba was training (today) so that is good.

“Coloccini was not training, but we will have to wait until tomorrow to see how things are. I think that Steven can be okay.”

Newcastle head into this weekend’s game on the back of their worst derby run in history, having suffered six successive defeats to Sunderland.

A more positive statistic is that each of the last four Black Cats bosses have won the North-East derby in their second game in charge of their club – a scenario that applies to Benitez and Newcastle this around.

Benitez said: “Does it mean anything? Not really. When you have a derby, everything can happen. It’s a different game, a different season, a new manager – everything has changed.

“Hopefully, we can also change the result, and the score will be good for us. You cannot be thinking about what has happened in the past – you have to be concentrating on what you are doing on the pitch and what will happen in the future.”