NEWCASTLE United are hoping Nolberto Solano can come back to haunt Mick McCarthy on Sunday.

With Lee Bowyer joining the Magpies long sick-list after picking up a knee injury at Wigan on Saturday, Newcastle boss Graeme Souness will be holding a roll call of his fit midfielders.

Kieron Dyer and Albert Luque are definitely out of Sunday's game, and Amdy Faye again struggled to make an impact in a Newcastle shirt against Paul Jewell's newly-promoted side.

Despite Emre impressing in the second half at the JJB Stadium he is still short of match fitness, leaving Newcastle still struggling for creativity in midfield.

The Turkey international picked up a slight thigh injury when he was hacked down by Lee McCulloch, who was red-carded on Saturday, but is determined to be involved at the weekend.

Skipper Alan Shearer is hopeful Solano can recover from the thigh injury in time to face their arch rivals, with the 30-year-old a matchwinner in his last appearance in Tyne-Wear derby.

The Peruvian scored the only goal from the penalty spot in a 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light back in April 2003 - McCarthy's seventh game in charge and seventh defeat - and Shearer would be delighted to see him and Emre in tandem at St James' Park.

Shearer said: "We played a lot better in particular when Emre came on.

"He's a neat, tidy, lovely little footballer.

"When he pushes himself further up the field he is able to create chances for us with his little pinpoint balls that find gaps in defences.

"He was the plus point to come out of the game on Saturday and hopefully we'll have Nobby Solano back training this week.

"It will give the manager one or two more options for what is already a huge game next weekend against our rivals.

"People don't want to hear us go on about injuries but it is a fact we are struggling with injuries and four or five of our players that would probably be playing have been out injured.

"You take that away from any team - perhaps not Chelsea but Man United, Arsenal would certainly miss them.

"I don't think we need preparation for the Sunderland game. If you need preparation for next weekend you shouldn't really be in the game.

"It will be the perfect way to bounce back if we go out and get a win - which we know we are capable of - and if we play like we did in the second half (at Wigan) we'll be all right.

"But you never know in derbies. If we go out with the right attitude we should be all right. We're due a little bit of luck, we know that for sure."

It appears Newcastle's had a small slice of luck yesterday, with Bowyer's knee injury not as bad as was first thought.

Although he is unlikely to figure at the weekend Souness will give the 28-year-old as much time as possible to recover.

"It's not as bad as we feared, but let's see how he goes in the next few days," he said.

"There's no great swelling on the knee, which is a good sign, so we are hoping it's not too serious."

Speaking about Emre, Souness said: "He's got strapping on his thigh where he was kicked but there's no problem with his hamstring.

"He needs time on the pitch, though. He's probably still a couple of games away."

* Blackburn and Bolton have presented wrongful dismissal claims to the Football Association following the red cards handed to Zurab Khizanishvili and Ricardo Gardner at the weekend.

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