Phillips is high performance, low maintenance. . . we like that!

KALVIN PHILLIPS believes his partnership with Declan Rice can form the platform of England’s push for Euros glory. The Leeds star, dubbed ‘the Yorkshire Pirlo’, was excellent alongside Rice in England’s engine room against Croatia yesterday. Phillips is effectively deputising for Jordan Henderson, with the vice-captain short of fitness having had groin surgery in February. But the 25-year-old now looks well-placed to keep the shirt — despite Henderson nearing a return — following his brilliant display at Wembley in which he set up Raheem Sterling’s winner. ‘There’s a lot of talk about me and Declan Rice fighting for one position but I think we play really well together. It’s an honour to play with him,’ said Phillips. ‘There are two group games left and we need to perform like that — if not better.’ Phillips’ performance didn’t go unnoticed on social media — ‘Yorkshire Pirlo’ was trending on Twitter after the game. The midfielder added: ‘The Leeds fans call me that which is very nice. I was having a look at Twitter and it is a nice feeling.’ On Phillips’ excellent display, head coach Gareth Southgate added: ‘Kalvin was outstanding. We watched him a lot in the Championship and we were going to bring him in a year ago. ‘Now he’s had a year of Premier League football, he’s technically good. We knew the athleticism in midfield would be so important. ‘His contribution for the goal summed his day up. He is very unassuming. We’d have picked him in March 2020 and seen where it had gone from there. ‘He’s just a very good footballer. High performance, low maintenance — we like that a lot.’