A young football fan recovering from cancer has inspired one of the region's top players to back a charity which helped her.

Middlesbrough midfielder Robbie Mustoe was so taken with the way Sargent Cancer Care helped 13-year-old Jay Weller, from Middlesbrough, he chose it as one of the charities to benefit from his testimonial game, against Borussia Dortmund at the Riverside Stadium, on Sunday.

Jay was diagnosed with the rare children's cancer, non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, in December 1998.

She spent Christmas Day at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle having major surgery, where the charity supported Jay and her family.

The charity supports 42 Teesside children with cancer and their families.

Jay's dad Neil said: "Jay was terribly ill and we virtually lived at the RVI.

"As she's such a big Boro fan, we contacted Robbie Mustoe just to see if he could do anything to cheer Jay up. He actually visited her in hospital and since then she's been a VIP guest at matches and visited the Hurworth training ground and met all the players.

"Robbie called us to tell us about the testimonial and said he wanted to choose Sargent as he was amazed how much we always praised the charity."

Robbie said: "I was really impressed with what I saw of Sargent Cancer Care's work. I've kept in touch with Jay and I'm giving her four tickets for the Riverside directors' box on Sunday so that she and her family can watch the game in VIP comfort."

Jay is a keen footballer and before she became ill was a member of her school team.

She said: "I can't wait to watch the match. Robbie has been brilliant and I'm really pleased he's chosen Sargent."