As Middlesbrough and Newcastle United were cancelling each other out at a misty Riverside Stadium on Saturday, Sunderland were crashing to an embarrassing home defeat to Bolton Wanderers.

And the biggest cheer on Teesside came at the final whistle when the result from the Stadium of Light was read over the tannoy.

Just a couple of months ago Roy Keane's stock at Sunderland couldn't have been any higher, while Joe Kinnear's appointment was ridiculed up and down the country, with the 61-year-old seemingly only keeping the seat warm for Kevin Keegan.

Yet today, few would be against Kinnear outlasting Keane given recent events.

Kinnear, having being given a contract until the end of the season, is finally able to look forward, while Keane is questioning whether he is the right man to lead Sunderland into 2009 and beyond.

It's certainly a funny old game.

However, while Newcastle's results seem to have stabilised under Kinnear, the club is still very much involved in a relegation battle, and three points from Saturday's home game against Stoke City are an absolute must for United given their precarious Premier League position.

On the positive side, the clean sheets Kinnear's side have claimed from successive away games point to a welcome improvement defensively.

Mistakes have been cut out, the opposition is having to work harder to create chances, and Shay Given isn't having to single-handedly take on all comers in goal.

Not only that, Sebastien Bassong has emerged as a player of real talent and potential in a black and white shirt, having been superb at Stamford Bridge and the Riverside Stadium after finally winning a place in his preferred central defensive position.

The 22-year-old is playing with a poise and confidence, and the notion that Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor are Kinnear's best central defensive pairing is now being questioned.

At the other end of the pitch, the return of Mark Viduka also points to a brighter future, with the striker returning from a six-month lay-off against his old club.

Viduka twice came close to settling the Tees-Tyne derby in Newcastle's favour after his second-half introduction, and if – and it's a big if – he can stay fit, then Kinnear's side have every chance of pulling away from the bottom three sooner rather than later.

In the first-half, United were crying out for someone to hold the ball up, as Middlesbrough centre-halves David Wheater and Emanuel Pogatetz were easily dealing with the long balls humped up to diminutive strikers Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins.

The fact that Martins, and not Owen, was the one to make way for Viduka was one of the game's main talking points, with the 23-year-old having been more of a threat than his captain, striking Ross Turnbull's crossbar in the first half.

Martins, however, let himself down with his reaction, storming down the tunnel to the dressing room without so much as a handshake.

For if Newcastle are to put their own problems behind them, they must stay United.