Anton Ferdinand: "We’ve been in the Premier League this year and they (Newcastle) haven’t. And if we finish above them in the Premier League for the next couple of seasons then I would say that we’ve taken that mantle.
“But it would be stupid and naive of me to say we’ve taken that mantle now, when Newcastle have only been in the Championship for one season and we’ve been in the Premier League for three years and coming up to four. If I say that, people will look at it and say that I am just saying it for the fans.
“If, in four or five years we are consistently finishing higher than them then yes, we will have definitely taken over.
“As a Sunderland player, I welcome them back because the derby is one of the best games I have ever played in and I’d like to play in many more of them. But, from a Sunderland fans point of view, probably seeing Newcastle in the Championship wouldn’t have been too bad either!
“That would have given Sunderland the bragging rights for another season and shown Newcastle what it is like to be a club that goes up and down, up and down.”