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Joey Barton is keen to play in Newcastle's derby clash with Sunderland as he attempts to rebuild his career.

The 26-year-old midfielder knows he has a series of debts to repay after serving a jail sentence for assault and affray, and a six-match ban for an incident involving former Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo before his £5.8million switch to St James' Park.

After playing 80 minutes for the reserves in their 4-1 victory over Middlesbrough on Tuesday night, Barton has put himself in the frame for an eagerly-anticipated trip to the Stadium of Light this weekend.

However, he knows he has a massive repair job to do, and that but for the support of key figures, including former boss Kevin Keegan, who resisted attempts to offload him on transfer deadline day, his future may have been even less assured.

Barton said: "Kevin, as everybody knows, put his neck on the line for me.

"He stuck by me, and I am eternally grateful to him for that.

"A lot of other people at the club stuck by me too, and they know who they are.

"Hopefully, I can go on and do a job for this football club."

Barton's appearance at Central Avenue, the home of Northern League Billingham Synthonia, was his first for the club since a brief cameo as a substitute at Arsenal on August 30, a game that proved to be Keegan's last as manager.

That came between his release from jail, where he had spent 74 days of a six-month sentence after pleading guilty to charges of assault and affray following an incident in Liverpool city centre in December, and the start of a Football Association ban imposed for violent conduct against Dabo, which he also admitted.

But he sees his latest chance as a new start, and one he knows he must take.

Barton said: "Because of my past misdemeanours, it has been tough for me.

"The season starts here for me and hopefully, it is a case of onwards and upwards.

"It's the first game I have played, really. It is a starting point, but I have trained hard.

"The aim is to turn in performances for the fans. I want to do it for everybody connected with the club; players, fans and staff, everybody I have let down in the past.

"I want to go on to start paying back my transfer fee, which I don't think I did at any stage last year."

Huyton-born Barton, who was signed by Keegan's predecessor, Sam Allardyce, has shown little of the form that won him a single England cap since his arrival on Tyneside, although there are mitigating, if largely self-inflicted, circumstances.

But with Newcastle currently battling their way out of an on-field crisis, which has gone hand-in-hand with the turmoil into which they have been plunged behind the scenes, interim boss Joe Kinnear needs all the bodies he can muster.

Nicky Butt and Danny Guthrie have formed a solid central-midfield partnership since the latter's own return from suspension, while Damien Duff is perhaps in the best form of his career on Tyneside to date.

However, Barton is desperate to return to the fold this weekend for a game Kinnear knows could test his mental strength to the limit.

The midfielder said: "I am ready for the Sunderland game. I know it is a derby and I am aware of how passionate the fans are about local derbies.

"I am more concerned mainly about getting my body right so I can be part of the squad.

"It is vitally important for me to play well when I come back into this football club.

"We have a good group of lads who are playing well at the minute. I am going to have to be playing really well if I am going to force my way into the team."

Sporting Life / Eurosport