Sunderland at Wembley: Jermain Defoe tells The Lads: 'Go and win it!'

Jermain Defoe during his Sunderland days with little Bradley Lowery.

The clubs meet in the final today at Wembley, and though he has played for both, the 36-year-old striker - now at Glasgow Rangers - is clear who he wants to win.

He Tweeted this morning: "Good luck to everyone @SunderlandAFC today! Been a tough few years and you all deserve it! Bring that trophy home! Oh and about last night... "

Defoe became a firm favourite at the Stadium of Light in a two-and-a-half-year spell between 2015 and 2017, in which he scored 34 goals in 87 games.

He left for Bournemouth after the club's relegation from the Premier League, but has remained popular with the club's fans because of the way he conducted himself.

His friendship with little Bradley Lowery - a young fan who was battling neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer - made headlines around the world.

When the six-year-old was named Child of Courage at the Pride of North East Awards in May 2017, Defoe said: "As a person he has changed me because of what he's going through at such a young age".

Defoe was made an OBE in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to the Jermain Defoe Foundation, a charitable organisation he founded in 2013.