ADAM JOHNSON and Lee Cattermole are in line to return to the Sunderland starting line-up for the Wear-Tyne derby after Dick Advocaat handed them some much-needed match fitness this week.

Advocaat is desperate for a first win as head coach after suffering defeat on his maiden Premier League outing in charge at West Ham last weekend.

And he was keen to give Johnson and Cattermole some football during the international break to help them improve their sharpness in a game situation after missing some football recently.

While Cattermole’s two-match ban for ten yellow cards prevented him from appearing in defeats to Aston Villa and the Hammers, Johnson’s situation has been far more complicated.

But Advocaat is keen for the winger to be involved after realising that the Sunderland squad he has inherited needs greater creativity.

Johnson wanted to be involved again with the first team after the club lifted his suspension when his bail was extended until April 23 following his arrest. His substitute appearance at West Ham last week was his first since Manchester United on February 28.

But Advocaat was quick to turn to him again when he took over and to strength his case for a starting spot against Newcastle he played in a behind-closed-doors friendly with Motherwell on Thursday, along with Cattermole.

The latter’s appearance against Newcastle would add the bite to the midfield which Sunderland could do with in the relegation battle, while Johnson’s record against Newcastle has been fantastic.

The 27-year-old has scored in three successive derbies at St James’ Park and he was the scorer of the only goal that separated the two teams in December.

Johnson was part of a three-man attack along with Connor Wickham and Danny Graham against Motherwell, with Jermain Defoe left out to rest and Steven Fletcher on international duty with Scotland.

Fletcher, meanwhile, has described the impact made former Rangers boss Advocaat has had since accepting to fill the void left by Gus Poyet since his departure.

He said: “It’s been very lively since the new coach came in; he’s a lively character and he’s brought that in to the training sessions. He wants us all to give 100 per cent and believes we’ve got the quality to turn our fortunes around and push up the league.

“He wants us to play a lot more compact and push forward as a unit. I think we did that in the last game because we won balls back and created chances. We’ve got to remain upbeat and stick to the task at hand.”

A failure to avoid defeat at West Ham means Sunderland are just a point above the relegation zone with eight matches remaining.

After the visit of Newcastle, the Black Cats also have a home date with Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace on April 11 and Advocaat thinks those two fixtures can lay the foundations for survival.