Nottingham Forest’s Jack Colback compares the East Midlands derby with Newcastle United and Sunderland clashes.
Nottingham Forest midfielder Jack Colback has stated that the East Midlands derby is “up there” with the Tyne-Wear derby, which is contested by Newcastle United and Sunderland.
The 29-year-old, who has represented both north east clubs during his career, participated in Forest’s goalless draw at bitter rivals Derby County on Monday night.
The Newcastle United loanee played the full match for Aitor Karanka’s men as they currently sit outside of the play-off places in the hotly-contested race for promotion in the Championship.
Killingworth-born Colback came through the ranks at Sunderland, and gave a simple response when asked about comparing both derby encounters.
“It is up there,” said Colback, as quoted by the Nottingham Post.
“Obviously it is very important for both sets of fans and, as I said before, the atmosphere was really good – our fans were fantastic.”
After making 135 appearances for Sunderland, sandwiched between loan spells at Ipswich Town, Colback made the brave decision of signing for Newcastle in 2014.
He has played 102 games for the St James’ Park club, both in the second tier of English football and in the top-flight, but has since found himself out on loan again.
There is the likelihood that Colback’s current club could earn promotion to the Premier League, which would further enhance his chances of playing in England’s top-tier, but until then he will be looking to impress his parent club by producing strong performances in the Championship.
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