Higginbotham joined Sunderland from Stoke in August 2007

Sunderland defender Danny Higginbotham has backed former club Stoke City to book their place in the Premier League with promotion on Sunday.

Stoke need just one point against Leicester to return to the top flight and Higginbotham is relishing the chance to play them next season.

"It would be great to see City come up," he told BBC Radio Newcastle.

"I'm at a huge team in the Premier League and for Stoke to come up would make it a great season."

Higginbotham has found himself in and out of the Sunderland first team but has made his mark in some important fixtures, most notably in the derby with Newcastle at the Stadium of Light.

"It was great to score in the derby and afterwards everyone was saying 'you've scored against Newcastle'," he said.

"It's always nice to score as a defender but the most important thing is that the team stayed up and our mission was to stay in the Premier League.

"It's a huge club and the top flight is where the club belongs, I hope we can keep building on this."