Sizing up the opposition

Consider it an olive branch extended across the no man's land between the trenches during a brief ceasefire. Simon of Mackem blog Roker Report was kind enough to invite us to contribute to the site's regular Fan Focus feature in advance of Sunday's derby, but communication breakdown and tardiness meant another Toon fan - XFM DJ Pete Donaldson - has stepped into the breach. You can read Pete's piece here.

In recognition of the novelty of coming across a literate Mackem let alone a decent Sunderland blog, we've added it to our blogroll.

OK, that's it - enough of the niceties. May the best team win on Sunday - unless, of course, that's not us.