Former Sunderland captain Max Power has backed his old club to gain promotion to the Championship ahead of their upcoming League One playoff final and says he is 'gutted' he couldn't get the job done himself.

The Lowdown: Road to the final

The Black Cats are set to face Gareth Ainsworth’s side at Wembley Stadium this weekend after securing a 2-1 aggregate victory over Sheffield Wednesday in the semi-final to book their place in the ultimate showdown.

The 28-year-old, who currently plays for Wigan Athletic, recently helped the Latics claim the third-tier title, but is still showing support for his former club and believes that they will be able to join him in the promotion party.

The Latest: Power hopeful but 'gutted'

Speaking during an episode of the Roker Rapport Podcast, Power admitted that he can’t envisage anything but a Sunderland win on Saturday, even though Wycombe are a difficult opponent to play against. He said:

“You look at both teams, I think for me and this is no disrespect to Wycombe at all, I think they have got some very good players and a very good manager and very much a different style to what Sunderland will bring on Saturday but, for me, I look player for player and I think Sunderland have got the better players.

“If there’s one team who can upset a game and cause issues and problems and are comfortable without the ball, it is Wycombe.

“I think Wycombe are very experienced and before, by the way, I meant no disrespect to them by saying Sunderland, for me, have got the better players, I stand by that. But I do think Wycombe can cause any team problems and I like I said, they are comfortable without the ball.

“I’m not going to sit on the fence, I do think Sunderland will win the game on Saturday.

“It’ll be interesting. I’m over in Ibiza, so I’ll find a bar to watch it in.

“Over the course of this season, I think anyone who knows me on a personal level knows I’ve no ill feeling towards Sunderland whatsoever. Obviously I’ve moved on and that’s football but I look back at my time with Sunderland, I am gutted it didn’t go how I wanted it to but I’ll be rooting for the lads on Saturday and I’m just glad I’m not involved to be honest!”

The Verdict: Advantage Sunderland

If the results from when the two sides met earlier on in the season are anything to go by, it’s looking like very happy reading for Alex Neil, whose outfit are yet to be defeated by their rivals.

The Black Cats recorded a comfortable 3-1 win at the Stadium of Light back in August, before playing out a 3-3 draw in the reverse fixture at Adams Park in January.

Over 44,000 Sunderland supporters have already booked their seat at Wembley, so it promises to be an amazing atmosphere and one that hopefully is enough to help get the Wearsiders over the line.

In other news… Sunderland have reportedly made an approach to sign one of their summer transfer targets.