DANISH international goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen believes that Newcastle United can qualify for Europe this season - if they bounce back after losing to Sunderland tomorrow!

No-one has done more in recent seasons to thwart the Tynesiders in derby matches, and his fabulous penalty save from former England striker Alan Shearer two seasons ago is a feature of Sunderland's footballing folklore.

The Scandinavian giant has never been on a losing side against Newcastle and he believes that Sunderland, with home advantage tomorrow, can continue their unbeaten run against a side flying high in the Premiership.

He said: "I've got great memories of our derby games against Newcastle - that penalty save and the two wins at St James' Park.

"But you can only put those things in the back of your mind when we play them again on Sunday and try to prove we are good enough.

"It is a game in which the form-book goes out of the window - hopefully we can overturn Newcastle's recent good form."

Sorensen believes that the signings of Craig Bellamy and Laurent Robert have been important factors in United's impressive Premiership form.

"I think their strength is their two wingers, Solano and Robert, who can really feed the ball into Shearer and Bellamy.

"But their weaknesses lie in defence - they have let a lot of goals in but they have scored more, so if we can keep them quiet we should have a good chance."

Sorensen, however, knows that Shearer is on fire at the moment and no-one will be trying harder than him to put one over Newcastle's greatest rivals.

He said: "Alan Shearer is playing really well but the whole Newcastle team has had a fantastic season.

"We know how good they are but we are not scared of them.

"The pace will be quicker than normal and it is difficult to get a rhythm going in these sort of games. They never turn out to be the prettiest of football matches but they are definitely exciting to look at and that's why it will be harder for Newcastle to play as well as they have done recently.

"Derby games really are special - the crowd is louder, the pace is quicker and everything if different. These games have got extra meaning for fans and the players - we would take a boring 1-0 win."

The two teams played a 1-1 draw at St James' Park at the end of August and Sorensen recalled: "It was like lightning pace and there were a lot of flying tackles. But that's the way it is and the fans love that."

Sorensen believes that Newcastle can go on to win a place in Europe this season.

He said: "If they can continue their good form after they have lost against us then good luck to them!"

Read more about Sunderland here.