Phillips wants to finish season in record-breaking style
WEST Bromwich Albion winger Matt Phillips is keen to “kick on” from setbacks on and off the pitch during the final few weeks of the season.
The 26-year-old started his first match in close to two months last Saturday after recovering from a hamstring injury suffered in training after the draw at West Ham.
The Scotland international had been sidelined for longer than expected after a tear in his hamstring affected his tendons.
His first two games back ended in defeat, making Phillips even more motivated to make a difference moving forward, starting with Liverpool on Sunday.
“There were a couple of setbacks along the way but hopefully I can kick on,” said Phillips, who has weighed in with eight assists and five Premier League goals in his maiden campaign with the Baggies.
“On a personal level it was great for me to be back out on the pitch playing again. It’s been five or six weeks since I have played so it was important to get through an hour or so against Southampton. “It was good to be able to complete 60 minutes but it was obviously a disappointing result on Saturday. “I had 45 minutes against Watford the previous week too so it was important to build on that in the Southampton game. There’s plenty of time to recover ahead of the Liverpool game and I am hoping to have a good week in training and then push on.”
Albion are still on track to set a new club-record points tally despite having won one of their last six. Six more points would take the Baggies on to 50 points for the first time and beat Steve Clarke’s haul in 2012/13.
“We’ve got six games left now,” Phillips said. “The boys are all so determined to make sure we get as many points on the board as possible.”