Keane wary of battling Butt April 18 2008
Sunderland boss Roy Keane will warn his players to beware a man created in his own image as they go in search of derby glory on Sunday.
During more than 12 years as a player at Old Trafford, Keane dominated United's midfield with his tenacious performances.
But for much of his hugely successful spell he had Nicky Butt snapping at his heels, either playing alongside him or desperately trying to displace him from the team.
This weekend, two men who shared a common cause for so long will find themselves in opposing camps with Premier League points and local pride at stake.
And Keane knows from experience that if it has anything to do with 33-year-old Butt, the Black Cats will have to fight for every inch of territory as they attempt to get the better of their fierce rivals.
The Irishman said: "You always reflect on players you have played with and when you are sitting in that dressing room before you go into a game, whether you are in Turkey, Arsenal or Liverpool, and you look around and see Nicky Butt next to you, I'm telling you, he is a good lad to have next to you.
"We had some good battles in training. It was great. I have a lot of time for Nicky.
"He is playing well and if people like Alan Smith and Damien Duff aren't getting in your team, you must have a good team."
It is more than seven years since the Wearsiders travelled to Tyneside and returned with all three points, Thomas Sorensen's famous late penalty save from Alan Shearer securing a second successive 2-1 victory at St James' Park.
However, they have been there only three time since, drawing once and losing the last two, and they have taken only three points from a possible 24 either home or away in the meantime as the club's fortunes have fluctuated.
They came agonisingly close to remedying that situation back in November when the Magpies needed a freak James Milner equaliser to snatch a point at the Stadium of Light.
Up until a few weeks ago, Sunday's game looked likely to be a tense relegation battle with both sides languishing in the lower reaches of the table and the Toon in freefall in the wake of Sam Allardyce's departure.
But they will welcome the Mackems to St James' brimming with confidence on the back of a five-game unbeaten run, while Keane's men had collected a maximum nine points from the three games before last weekend's unfortunate 2-1 home defeat to Manchester City.
Although neither side is mathematically safe yet, the pressure has eased in recent weeks and Keane is relishing the short trip to a stadium where he freely admits he did not lose too often as a United player, but saw red more often than he would have liked.
"This is what you are in the game for, these type of games.
"I have experienced them before, I have experienced them at United, Celtic - they are brilliant, absolutely brilliant games to look forward to.
"People keep saying do the players appreciate what they mean to the supporters? Of course they do. It is absolute nonsense if you don't think they do.
"They (Newcastle) are probably in a stronger position than us at this moment in time and have probably got a stronger squad, but that's what we are striving to do.
"We competed with them at our place, but what we want to do, we want to compete with Newcastle year in, year out.
"Unfortunately for this club, it has been up and down, up and down, and we have not been able to maintain that, and that is something I want to do."