Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch has heaped praise on Kalvin Phillips after his performance in the 1-1 draw against Southampton on Saturday.
Leeds picked up another valuable point in their push for Premier League survival on Saturday afternoon.
Jack Harrison’s opener had Leeds dreaming of a crucial three points, but James Ward-Prowse did what he does best by smashing a free kick past Illan Meslier.
Leeds still need more points to guarantee survival, but Marsch will be pleased with what he saw from his players on Saturday.
Marsch was even able to call upon star midfielder Phillips, who managed to play just shy of 30 minutes against Southampton.
Phillips had been missing with injury since the 2-2 draw with Brentford in December.
Having missed four months of action, Leeds fans will be delighted to have Phillips back for the run-in.
It may take a little while for Phillips to get back to his brilliant best, but even just having him available again is a major morale boost around Elland Road.
Boss Marsch has now spoken about Phillips and his impact, telling Leeds Live that he thinks the England international is ‘fantastic’.
Marsch added that he is looking for Phillips to improve in a number of areas, but is now ‘really excited’ to be working with Phillips.
“Yeah, I think he’s fantastic,” said Marsch. “You can see his quality, you can see his poise, you can see the confidence he brings to the group. When I say we were pushing in the last 15-20 minutes, I think Kalvin was a really big part of that, came on the pitch and really just settled things down for us.”
“We keep trying to push him to play more intensively to get better at counter-pressing, to really win his duels and his aerial duels and the more that he can expand his presence on the pitch with and without the ball is just going to make us better and better. And his presence will be massive. So yeah, really excited. And so as everybody you can see, the quality provides the group.”
Just how long they end up working together remains to be seen.
Phillips is wanted by Newcastle United and Aston Villa according to the Daily Mail, with Leeds likely facing a number of bids this summer.
It will take a lot for Phillips to leave Leeds, and Marsch will be hoping that the midfielder stays loyal for a while yet.
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