Saturday sport: Newcastle face Sunderland in FA Cup derby

Sunderland manager Michael Beale has said seven years without a Tyne-Wear derby is "too long" as his side prepare to play local rivals Newcastle in a much anticipated FA Cup third round clash this lunchtime.

Overall, there are 19 FA Cup games taking place today.

At 3pm, Brighton go to Stoke and Steve Spooner takes charge of Birmingham City for their meeting with Hull.

Chelsea play Preston North End from 5.30pm, with Middlesbrough at home to Aston Villa at the same time.

Dublin boss Dessie Farrell has named an inexperienced side for their opening O'Byrne Cup fixture this afternoon.

They take on Offaly in the quarter-finals with Ballyboden St Enda's man Alex Gavin named at centre back and Kevin Lahiff of St Judes in at wing forward.

Throw in at Gracefield is at 1.30pm.

The other last four clashes see Westmeath take on Longford and Kildare travel to Wexford.

They are also underway at 1.30pm.

At the same time, Wicklow and Carlow will battle it out for the Shield competition.

Later, the last semi-final slot will be up for grabs when Meath come up against Louth from 7pm.

Shane Ryan returns to the nets for Kerry today as they look for a second victory in this year's McGrath Cup.

The All Ireland winner takes the place of Shane Murphy in today's meeting with Limerick in Rathkeale.

Throw in is at 2pm.

The Kingdom began their campaign with a 19-point win over Tipperary on Wednesday.

Mickey Harte will give Brendan Rogers and Shane McGuigan their first starts of the year in Derry's McKenna Cup game this afternoon.

The Slaughneil pair have been named for the clash with Down which gets underway at Celtic Park from 6pm.

The Connacht Hurling League will crown a first-time champion this evening.

New York and Mayo will be looking for