Former Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips has revealed a freak accident in the gym almost ended his World Cup dream after weeks of hard work recovering from a shoulder injury. Phillips underwent surgery back in September to fix a problem that has been affecting him since Leeds' first season back in the Premier League.
He faced a race against time to be fit for the tournament in Qatar with his recovery initially timed at around 12 weeks. Phillips, though, has managed to do so in just under eight by putting in the hard work with the physios alongside teammate Kyle Walker, who was also touch and go to make it in time.
However, with England set to get their group stage campaign underway against Iran on Monday, Phillips has now told of how a strange accident in the gym almost undid his weeks of tough graft.
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He told the Independent: “It’s quite a good story to be honest. So, before the City game against Brentford (last weekend), being a professional that I am, I went to the gym before the match and was just doing loads of Achilles work on the leg press.
“I’d gone to pull a weight off the rack and there must have been one stuck behind it and I pulled it off and it has landed straight on my foot and cut it all.
“But it is not too bad – it is the blisters from training (in Qatar) that hurt more. It isn’t too bad, but I stood for about 10 seconds and thought ‘oh my god, what was that?’
“If it wasn’t a 5kg plate, if it had been heavier, I think it would have been a lot worse. Imagine that, that is what you get for being professional!”
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