Tottenham striker Harry Kane values his relationship with Sunderland ace Jermain Defoe.

Defoe insisted the young man should wear his No 18 shirt when he left.

"We got on well," Kane told the Daily Mail. "When he went, he told me, 'I only want you to have this number, Harry.' I think he saw me as a good finisher.

"He said, 'It's a finisher's number - so you've got to have it. That number scores goals.' It's one and eight - number nine. That was nice of him. Even when I was going out on loan everywhere, I always thought I would return to Tottenham and make it - but if Tim Sherwood hadn't come in, who knows where I would be now? It could have been different. I could have gone on another loan, ended up with another team. I took my chance, but I'm sure a lot of other players don't even get that.

"When you come through the system you get a shorter period to prove yourself. Other players have a few months to settle, we get a few games and if you don't cut it the fans and everyone else decide you're not ready for first-team football. Expectations of homegrown players are greater."