Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris will head into Sunday's showdown with neighbours Newcastle having learned painful lessons from derby football.
The 50-year-old Frenchman's last season at Lorient saw his team lose 4-0 at Breton rivals Brest and then go down 1-0 in the return as they slipped to relegation from Ligue 1 at the end of the 2023-24 campaign.
After the first game in December 2023, Le Bris and his players arrived at the training ground to find 400kg of rotting fish had been dumped outside by a fans' group protesting over their form.
Le Bris said: "I wouldn't say that was a great experience. Just like players, as a coach you can have ups and downs, but you are still growing from those experiences.
"It was a different story, but it was really important in my pathway, not just to experience, but to learn from different events.
"Anything can happen in football, but I can say that the energy here is totally different. The squad here is well connected with the project and with the fans and the dynamic of the club.
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"Yes, we could lose, but we will not lose with the same feeling because football is still dangerous when you play against strong opponents. But at Lorient, it was very different. It is what it is."
Le Bris left Lorient by mutual consent in the aftermath of the drop and has since rebuilt his reputation on Wearside to such an extent that his promoted side has bucked the recent the trend for clubs emerging from the second tier by more than making a fist of it among the big boys.
Sunderland's 23-point haul to date has them in the top half of the table and one clear of Sunday's opponents, tangible evidence that the man at the top has bounced back from his disappointment in his native country.
Asked if managers can learn more from good experiences than they do from bad, he replied: "It's a good question, it's a good question.
"Sometimes you need to lose to push more because you're a human being. I try to keep the same process across positive and negative results, so I think it's balance.
"But often after a defeat, you want to react, so you give maybe a bit more. I try to be balanced."
Le Bris will hope that upward curve continues this weekend as Sunderland defend a nine-game unbeaten league run against their arch rivals, who won the last encounter 3-0, an FA Cup third round tie at the Stadium of Light in January 2024.