The 31-year-old Australian makes a swift return to the Riverside Stadium, where he will complete the transition from hero to villain in the space of a few months after rejecting the offer of a new contract.

He could further infuriate the home fans if he manages to get his name on the scoresheet, something he did for Boro 19 times last season, including two in his farewell appearance against Fulham on the final day of the campaign.

But if he does claim his first goal for the Magpies in enemy territory, Allardyce wants it to count for something.

He said: "If you want to get off the mark for your new club, there could not be a better place to do it than going to your old club.

"On many occasions, it seems to happen that way, so I certainly hope that's the case on Sunday.

"But the goal must be a winning goal, it must not be a goal that means nothing. It must mean a lot to not just him, but to us.

"It must get us something out of the game."

Viduka has started both his club's games to date, but has been replaced by Shola Ameobi on each occasion, with his manager acutely aware of his lack of a break this summer.

After a short holiday, the striker joined up with the Australia squad ahead of their Asian Cup campaign in the Far East and had only a week or so to catch his breath before beginning preparations for the new campaign on Tyneside.

Allardyce is hopeful the former Leeds and Celtic man will ask national coach Graham Arnold to excuse him from next month's friendly clash with Argentina in Melbourne to allow him to get the rest he needs.

"There is an international window coming up and I think he should take the opportunity to ask his coach if he can take a break, because it would be much more beneficial to us and much more beneficial to Australia in the long run," Allardyce said.

"There are a lot of selfish people in the game who do not think beyond the next game, when really what you have got to think about is the whole season.

"Somebody like Mark Viduka at the moment needs to recharge his batteries and if he got that opportunity in the next international window, that could be of big benefit to us and to Australia in the long run.

"He has had a long summer. He played in some international games at the end of the season and then the Asian Cup right the way up to the back end of June.

"We only gave him really a week's rest after that. We are using him sparingly in the Premier League matches because of the huge amount of football he has played, not just throughout the summer, but throughout the whole of the season for Middlesbrough.

"He has not had the opportunity to recharge his batteries as much as everybody else, so that's why we are bringing him off as the games go by."