Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich City are all among the promotion contenders in the Championship.
Phillips, who has recently suggested that he does not want to take the Sunderland job, was asked about how he felt the promotion race in the second tier would work out.
And the former Premier League top scorer suggested that he believed Middlesbrough, Wednesday and Norwich were all in for good seasons.
He said: “Statistically if you look at teams who win the Championship they don’t make many changes.
“Yes, I am sure the bookies will have their favourites but it is so difficult. From my experience you have to get off to a good start and if you don’t, you have to stay within the pack because games come thick and fast and you get injuries and have loss of form.
“Every team will have a bad run. Steve Gibson at Middlesbrough has come out and given Garry Monk a big war-chest.
“He is allowed to go and out and spend and you expect them to be strong. Sheffield Wednesday will be strong again, Norwich possibly.”
Boro’s appointment of Garry Monk appears to have boosted confidence of a positive season ahead at the Riverside.
Middlesbrough are the favourites to win the Championship this season, as they seem intent on keeping the bulk of their squad around.
Wednesday, meanwhile, will be desperate to make it third time lucky – after narrowly missing out on promotion for the past two years.
Norwich, on the other hand, were disappointingly poor last term, and will need a big improvement if they are to challenge next time around.
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