Kevin Phillips has been speaking about Sunderland winger Chemsdine Talbi.

Kevin Phillips has offered his view on Chemsdine Talbi’s lack of game time for Sunderland this season, admitting that he is “surprised” to see the winger on the periphery of Regis Le Bris’ plans.

Despite producing a number of impactful moments during his debut campaign in England, the Moroccan has been limited to just one EFL Cup outing - in which he scored the winning goal - and a half-hour cameo in the Premier League this term.

And in Phillips’ opinion, there may be behind-the-scenes reasons for Talbi’s ongoing absence - especially as Sunderland continue to search for effective attacking options in wide areas.

Speaking exclusively to The Echo, courtesy of BestBettingSites, the ex-Black Cats icon said: “It's an interesting one, that. There's a lot of fans crying out for Talbi to be involved. His appearance in the cup this season: he scores a wonderful goal, and we haven't really seen him since.

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“We're not privy to what goes on in the background, so clearly something's happened, because he hasn't been in and around it, and he hasn't got the minutes. But he's certainly a player that can unlock the door, and maybe it's something that the manager might look at in the next few weeks, because they've got some really tough games coming up. So I am a little bit surprised that he's not been involved.”

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Talbi made 28 Premier League appearances in his first season at the Stadium of Light, scoring four goals - including a strike in the Tyne-Wear Derby at St. James’ Park - and assisting two more.

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