Sunderland flop axed by loan club after '˜misdemeanours'

The Welshman is on a season-long loan at the Championship club after failing to make an impact at the Stadium of Light.

But he has barely featured for the Robins this term, due to a number of fitness and injury issues.

And City boss Lee Johnson has revealed the latest reason for Matthews not being involved – disciplinary issues.

The 24-year-old was left out of Saturday’s squad to face Birmingham, with teenager Taylor Moore preferred on the substitutes’ bench ahead of him.

Asked about Matthews, he said: “He is fine now.

“It’s nothing major, just a couple of little misdemeanours that could be unfortunate or could be misunderstandings.

“We have to send the message out to the squad to make sure everybody is fully focused on getting a result.”

Matthews struggled for form and fitness at Sunderland after being signed by former manager Dick Advocaat and then-director of football Lee Congerton in the summer of 2015.

The full-back joined from Celtic for £2million, but ended the campaign being shipped out to City.

He impressed in his initial spell at the Championship side, so much so that Johnson was determined to bring him back to Ashton Gate this term.

However, Matthews has completed just one full game for the Robins and has been forced to undergo a specialist training programme to shed excess weight after struggling for fitness.

He was called into the Wales squad for their game against Serbia this month, but now faces a fight to regain his place at City.