Alan Pardew: "It would give whoever wins a real boost.
"It will be a difficult game to win. Sunderland are very disciplined and organised and are going to make it difficult for us and put pressure on the ball.
"Our 12th man, the fans, we are going to need them to help us squeeze over the line - but I think it will be a squeeze for whoever wins.
"Once you turn up at one of those games, you get to understand it.
"I'm never going to understand it quite as much as a Geordie fan who has been watching his team for 40 years or 10 years, I am never going to have that kind of feeling that they have.
"But I have to understand it and I do understand it. John Carver has made our responsibilities very, very clear this week, and I shall make sure we follow them through, hopefully.
"The message is loud and clear with our players. The ultimate thing is not to get wrapped up in it, though, when we play.
"You need to have an intensity to match the occasion, but you also need to be able to play and you need a different mindset for that.
"We need to get the balance right between intensity and having the calmness to play.
"Martin O'Neill has done a remarkable job, that's all you can say. If I was the man who employed him, you couldn't ask for a better job."