It seemed very typical of Leeds United’s season when Kalvin Phillips lasted less than 15 minutes in his first England game of the summer. He had to be replaced by Jude Bellingham in England’s 1-1 draw with Germany at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday evening.
Gareth Southgate confirmed after the game that it was quite a severe dead leg suffered by the Whites midfielder after a fairly robust coming together with Nice Schlotterbeck inside the opening 10 minutes. It immediately raised doubt over whether the Whites star would continue with the Three Lions squad at St George’s Park.
Although, the official England account revealed at midday on Friday that Phillips was still there but training indoors as the rest of the squad continued their preparations for the visit of Italy on Saturday. It would suggest, firstly, that the injury to the Whites star is not as serious as first feared and, secondly, that Southgate still feels he can play a key role for his country before the end of the international period.
READ MORE: Leeds United reveal retained list as first team player released with new contracts offered
Following the aforementioned repeat of the Euro 2020 final at Molineux on Saturday, England have one more game to play before Phillips can start thinking about his summer holiday. Hungary visit the home of Wolves on Tuesday night in the fourth of the Three Lions’ Nations League fixtures.
It comes just 10 days after England were beaten by the same opponents in Budapest in their opening game of the Nations League campaign. After seeing his side struggle to control the game against the Hungarians, Southgate may well be hoping to bring Phillips into his midfield - if he is deemed fully fit - on Tuesday.
