Kalvin Phillips is in danger of falling out to the periphery of the squad, and Leeds United cannot afford to allow that to happen.
With Leeds going into their next two games off the back of a disappointing defeat to promotion rivals Huddersfield, Garry Monk would be forgiven for selecting his most in-form midfielders for the home fixtures with Cardiff and Bristol City. But he must surely not forget about one of his midfielders who is currently struggling for form.
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Kalvin Phillips began the season seemingly with a point to prove having struggled for opportunities under previous managers, and that allowed him to put in some brilliant performances.
But he appears to have gone off the boil lately.
Jack Grealish of Aston Villa (R) and Kalvin Phillips of Leeds United in action
His most recent appearance was the FA Cup defeat against Sutton, when he should have been capable of dominating the game on his own, while more recently, he was sent off in an under-23s game having missed out on a place in the matchday squad for the Huddersfield clash.
There are concerns among some supporters that he is not able to challenge Liam Bridcutt for a place in the team and he will be left behind by Ronaldo Vieira once the teenager reaches something like his full potential.
But for now, giving up on Phillips would be a massive mistake.
While every game is now crucial to Leeds’ promotion hopes, their next two are arguably as winnable as they are going to get between now and the end of the campaign, so they surely represent Monk’s best chance to bring Phillips back into the fold in some capacity and show that he has faith in him, even if that is by handing him two substitute appearances.
He now has something to prove following his recent struggles, so there is no reason why he cannot rediscover the form he showed during the early stages of the season.
Leeds simply do not have the depth to discard first-team players for lengthy periods of time, even with Eunan O’Kane also in contention for a place in the Whites’ midfield.
Leeds United manager Garry Monk
Both O’Kane and Bridcutt have been injured for significant periods of time this season, and with 16 games left in the regular season – with potentially another three fixtures if they go on to reach the play-off final – not giving Phillips a vote of confidence now could prove costly as they may have no choice but to play him in a game much more significant than the ones against Cardiff and Bristol City.
While there are doubts about the 21-year-old’s current ability, there is no doubt that an out of form Phillips would not necessarily cost Leeds in their next two matches as both teams languish in the bottom half of the division.
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But leaving an out of form Phillips on the sidelines could be extremely risky as they may then have no choice but to bring him back in for the games against Newcastle or Brighton, or even in the play-offs, when just one player having an off day could hurt their promotion hopes enormously.
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