Hatem Ben Arfa: 'Derby win can kickstart season'

Hatem Ben Arfa is hoping that a derby victory over Sunderland can kickstart Newcastle United's season.

Alan Pardew's side head to the Stadium of Light on Sunday having won only two of their seven games in the Premier League this season.

The Magpies have lost just two games, though they have struggled to find any kind of consistency so far.

"We are confident because we know we have very good players in our squad. That's why we are confident," said the France international.

"In the Premier League, we have to win to get more confidence. In the last few games, we didn't take a lot of points. We have to get our confidence back. We have to win consecutive games to have high confidence.

"We have very good players. On the pitch, everyone wants to do very well in this game. All the fans want to play this game, but they can't, and we going to give all our energy for this game."

Ben Arfa joined Newcastle on a permanent deal from Marseille in 2011.