Kim Hellberg rested Will Lankshear for Middlesbrough's clash with Cardiff City

Kim Hellberg won’t be making the same mistake with Will Lankshear again, according to goalscoring legend Kevin Phillips.

The former Sunderland goalscoring hero admitted his shock last weekend when he saw the in-form Middlesbrough striker was benched by Hellberg for the Cardiff game.

Boro ended up finding themselves 2-0 down at half-time and Lankshear was introduced at the interval along with Sebastian Berhalter to help turn the game around and at least earn a draw.

After, Hellberg explained that while he may have made some selection mistakes, he said Lankshear was not one of them. He explained how managing the 21-year-old over 46 games, after lessons which were learned from last season, was important.

But Phillips views the decision to rest Lankshear as a mistake. He speaks from the perspective of a striker who knows what it’s like to be in red hot form.

Over three seasons at Sunderland (two in the old first division and one in the Premier League), he scored 20-plus goals. And asked his thoughts on the Lankshear decision, and whether he’d have liked to be left out when in such form.

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“Honestly, when I saw it, I was like, ‘wow, he must be carrying a knock; he must be fatigued’, Phillips told Best Betting Sites. “But for me, fatigue, no chance.

“When you're scoring goals, and you're the top scorer in the league, you do not want to be left out, especially at home. Yeah, I was very surprised.

“I think there was a bit of unrest from the fans [at the decision]. He comes on, gets his goal, so I don't think the manager will be resting him or putting him on the bench any time soon.

“They can't afford to do that. Hopefully it won't happen again, and he continues to play now for the rest of the season.”

Lankshear will almost certainly return to the Boro starting line-up on Friday evening when Hellberg’s side travel to take on Bolton Wanderers.

Phillips, though a Sunderland legend, has spoken openly in the last year or so about his hope to see Boro join his former side and Newcastle United back in the Premier League, with 2009 the last time the three North East clubs were all up there.