Phillips admits he was lucky to not see red and he must play more at Man City

17 October 2023 , 22:04

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Kalvin Phillips has admitted he could have seen red for England against Italy (Image: Getty Images)

Kalvin Phillips has admitted he was fortunate not to receive a red card during England's 3-1 win over Italy.

Having already been handed a yellow card, Phillips lunged into a tackle and fouled Nicolo Barella in the second-half at Wembley. Referee Clement Turpin chose not to send the Manchester City midfielder off as he escaped a second bookable offence.

Phillips ended up being taken off in the 70th-minute for Jordan Henderson, who received a much warmer reception than the one after coming off against Australia on Friday.

Gareth Southgate revealed that he felt he needed to take Phillips off because he could have been sent off for that tackle on Barella. Phillips agreed with his manager and felt he may have seen red on another day, which would have ruled him out for their penultimate Euro 2024 qualifier against Malta next month.

Speaking to Channel 4, Phillips said: "I kick myself when I made that challenge, I knew it was going to be a yellow card. It is probably a lack of minutes at club level. I was maybe lucky not to get sent off."

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Phillips has struggled for regular game time at Manchester City since his big-money move from Leeds in summer of 2022. In fact, he has started just four matches during his time at the Etihad Stadium, playing just 760 minutes across 26 matches. Following Rodri's red card against Nottingham Forest, many felt Phillips would be handed a run in the side, but he was still named on the bench for the Premier League clashes with Wolves and Arsenal.

"As a football player you always want to be playing," Phillips added. "I want to be playing as much as possible but I haven't done that for a year and a half. I always try and make sure I am ready for whatever comes. I want minutes, I want to go the Euros. We will see what happens."

Kalvin Phillips in action for England against Italy (Getty Images)

Southgate weighed in on Phillips' lack of regular game time. He said: "Ideally, we would have everyone playing regularly, but you can see Kalvin (Phillips), Harry Maguire, the questions have been about them playing at club level but they were both outstanding tonight.

"They are so important for us. Yes, of course we would like to see them playing more, but they are up against very good players at their club. Every time he plays for us, he does a fantastic job."

Kieran King