text: At last, some good news for Sunderland and Newcastle United — apparently form goes out of the window in a derby. Now isn’t that a relief? On Sunday afternoon, both sets of supporters will have the chance to suspend the depressing reality of their current plight. Over the course of their last six matches — 12 in total — the pair have amassed a not-so-mighty six points. During that same period — 18 hours of football, no less — they have scored four times between them, conceding 22 along the way. It is little wonder they have billed this one ‘The Desperation Derby’. Perhaps ‘The Donkey Derby’ would be more apt. John Carver issues instructions to his players during training on Friday ahead of Sunday's derby . Carver put his Newcastle players through their paces during the session at St James' Park . Dick Advocaat wraps up warm as he prepares his Sunderland side for Sunday's crunch clash . Sunderland are the country’s most out-of-form side and, unless new boss Dick Advocaat can reverse what is a sorry slide towards the bottom three, they will be back in the Championship come August. Newcastle won’t be, but therein lies the problem. It is job done on Tyneside. The Magpie mandate is survival and little more, a dispiriting acceptance of mediocrity which has permeated a squad in desperate need of overhaul, both in terms of quality and character. The same can be said of a Sunderland side who have won just four times all season. If it wasn’t for the history and intensity of the rivalry, this would have all the appeal of The Dog and Duck versus The Red Lion. Perhaps that is being disrespectful to pub teams, however. But, amid all of the gloom, the stakes remain sky high, albeit for different reasons. For Sunderland, it is about survival. Forget their bid for a record-making five straight victories over the enemy. Forget, even, bragging rights. Carver is fighting to secure his future as Newcastle manager beyond the end of this season . Advocaat was all smiles as he attempts to steer Sunderland clear of Premier League relegation . With trips to Arsenal and Chelsea to sign off their dismal season, this is one of six winnable matches which will determine their fate. Advocaat knows as much and hinted on Friday that he is working on a six-game rescue plan. Their last six have yielded just two points and one goal. Should that sad sequence persist then it will end in a future-defining demotion to the second tier. For never has relegation come at such a cost given the fulsome flow of the Premier League cash-cow. For Newcastle head coach John Carver, it’s about making a point. The outcome of this game will shape his future also. Lose, and the chances of him landing the job beyond the end of the season will take a serious hit. ‘I have stopped thinking about getting the job on a permanent basis, I really have, because if I keep worrying about everything that’s going on, if I keep worrying about everybody who has been linked with the job, then I won’t be giving this my 100 per cent, so I don’t even think about “permanent”,’ said Carver. ‘In my eyes, I am permanent. In the contract I signed there was nothing about “short term”, there was nothing about “interim”. I am the permanent manager and that’s my mindset on this, so I don’t even think about the summer.’ Newcastle are not in danger of relegation but their season has faded away in recent months . Jermain Defoe, who has scored twice since his return to England, trains with team-mates on Friday . Advocaat, meanwhile, will be gone come June, regardless of which division he leaves Sunderland in. To that end, his reputation is on the line. ‘If I didn’t think I could do it then I would have said “no”,’ said the 67-year-old, who has never been relegated, as a player or manager. ‘I need to give the players confidence. I need to be a little bit softer because of the position we’re in, but if they don’t do what I want then they won’t play. ‘The game against Aston Villa [4-0 home defeat] shows you that something is wrong. They will not play like that under me.’ History is at least on Advocaat’s side. By a quirk of footballing fate, his predecessors — Paolo di Canio and Gus Poyet — both won derbies in their second match in charge. ‘The pressure is on then, yes?’ laughed Advocaat. He may joke and dismiss such coincidence, but those victories both played a part in Sunderland avoiding relegation. Gabriel Obertan (left) closes in on Mehdi Abeid during Friday's training session at St James' Park . Tim Krul works on his handling as he prepares to keep Sunderland out in the Tyne-Weir derby on Sunday . And that is a recurring theme on Wearside — a tedious tale of an annual battle against the drop. At least that, however, offers some perverse excitement for supporters. Up the road at Newcastle, the club who returned profits of £18.7million last week are in debt to a fanbase which, mystifyingly, still exceeds 50,000 on a fortnightly basis. Anger has made way for apathy at Gallowgate, for fans have accepted that, as long as Mike Ashley remains in power, their lucrative existence — at least that is for the owner — resides somewhere between 17th and 10th. For the Toon Army, it is ‘The Derby of Disillusion’. Indeed, many supporters resent their own club as much as they do their rivals across the river. Throw in Jack Colback returning to the Stadium of Light for the first time since his defection to Newcastle, Sunderland’s Adam Johnson playing at home for the first time since his arrest on suspicion of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl, as well as a ludicrous 4pm kick-off in the middle of a Bank Holiday weekend, and you feel that a potentially poisonous atmosphere awaits. But the good news is that form goes out of the window. We can only hope that much is true.
target: Newcastle travel to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland  on Sunday .
  Clash being billed as 'The Desperation Derby' with both sides struggling .
  John Carver is fighting to secure his future as manager beyond the season .
  Carver has stopped thinking about getting the job on a permanent basis .
  Dick Advocaat is striving to ensure Sunderland remain in Premier League .