Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PREMIER LEAGUE I’M A UTILITY MAN GET ME IN THERE!
Lijnders: Phillips has come through so many trials & tribulations you could rely on him in the jungle
NAT PHILLIPS has made such an impression on Liverpool’s assistant manager Pep Lijnders that he says he could rely on him in the jungle.
The stand-in defender’s recent performances have helped the Reds to two clean sheets and won him the club’s player of the month award for March.
Lijnders believes the squad he sees up close and personal in training every day will turn things around as they aim for Champions League glory in what has been a disappointing season in the defence of the Premier League crown.
And the Dutch coach insists Phillips typifies the spirit he believes can change the club’s current fortunes.
“Nathaniel is an example of where determination and respect can bring you,” said Lijnders.
“It’s absolutely true that it’s a story everyone can take something from. It’s not the first time this will happen in our club and not the last, for sure.
“The passion, the ambition, the love for the game will always make or break you.
“Luckily, we have many stories like that already.
“Willpower and character was the base of many of our boys to win with us. That gives me confidence that we will be back.”
Phillips struggled to force his way into the side when all three of Liverpool’s senior centre-halves were out injured, with boss
Jurgen Klopp preferring midfielders
Fabinho and
Jordan Henderson ahead of him.
Klopp also used raw teenager Rhys
Williams ahead of the 24-year-old and signed two new defenders in the
January window.
But Phillips has been given his chance in the past month and taken it powerfully, earning praise from the assistant boss.
“He puts his head where other players don’t put their feet. He has a heart like a lion,” said Lijnders (bottom).
“Probably if I need to survive in a jungle, the first two people I would choose are Nathaniel and Millie (James Milner)!”
Phillips (left) isn’t getting carried away, because he knows he has a long way to go to secure his future.
He said: “It’s really nice to feel that sort of love and I’m hugely appreciative of it. “But I try not to pay too much attention to it and just concentrate on the job at hand – and carry on with what I was doing to get myself into this position.”