DeAndre Yedlin has claimed that his lack of playing time at Tottenham Hotspur took him by surprise.

The USA international moved to White Hart Lane from Seattle Sounders in January, but has since struggled to break into the first team under manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Yedlin is now playing for Sunderland after joining the Black Cats on a season-long loan in the summer transfer window.

"From when I started with Seattle all the way through the World Cup, everything had gone pretty smoothly," The Chronicle quotes Yedlin as saying.

"Then there was this roadblock. I'd never experienced that before. So it was a time I really had to learn about myself and figure out how to get through it."

Yedlin has made just one senior appearance for Tottenham.