Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has issued an update on the condition of on-loan Manchester City man Kalvin Phillips
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has conceded there is a temptation to use Kalvin Phillips from the start - but is not willing to risk the on-loan Manchester City midfielder.
The 30-year-old has only been used as a substitute since his return to Bramall Lane, featuring in each of their last four games.
He spent the second half of last season on loan in South Yorkshire but was plagued by injury, managing just three outings before seeing his campaign curtailed. The fitness of the former Leeds United star is, therefore, being carefully built up.
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder is looking to carefully manage Kalvin Phillips.placeholder image
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder is looking to carefully manage Kalvin Phillips. | Bruce Rollinson/PA Wire & Annabel Lee-Ellis/PA Wire
Chris Wilder’s Kalvin Phillips ‘dilemma’
After his side’s 3-1 defeat to Norwich City at the weekend, Wilder claimed Phillips will not be in contention to start until next month.
He said: “Kalvin is not a starter for us until after the international break. There's a temptation for me to put him in and I'm sure he'll add to the team.
“But my dilemma is that I can't risk that until we're really sure that Kalv can go and play 50, 55, 60 minutes and build off the back of that, off the back of his previous situation.”
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Kalvin Phillips’ tough chapter
Phillips left his boyhood club Leeds for Manchester City in 2022, moving across the Pennines for a reported £45m fee.
He has since struggled for fitness and form and dropped back into the Championship after loan spells at West Ham United and Ipswich Town.
After returning to Sheffield United in the summer window, Phillips said: “I think where my last three years have gone has been quite negative, in a way.
“I've had a tough couple of years, but it's nothing that I can't shake off. I know the last three years have been difficult for me, and being at City, it's not frustrating for me at City. They're really good with me, they treated me really well. Hopefully this season, this is the season.
Kalvin Phillips was used as a substitute in Sheffield United’s 3-1 defeat to Norwich City at the weekend.placeholder image
Kalvin Phillips was used as a substitute in Sheffield United’s 3-1 defeat to Norwich City at the weekend. | Simon Bellis / Sportimage
“Every player that is on a football team wants to play as much as possible, and when you don't get that chance at the end of the week, you can get frustrated, but I kind of understood certain aspects of why I wasn't playing, and things that I needed to do better.
“Injuries didn't help me either. I was always at the stage of being really fit, but then when a certain game came where I could be involved, I'd pick up a little niggle a week before or something like that.”