Kyle Walker has urged his Manchester City teammates to remain focused for two 'massive finals' as they aim to complete an illustrious treble.
City were handed the Premier League trophy for a third consecutive season at the Etihad on Sunday, following a comfortable 1-0 win against Chelsea. Their position at the summit was confirmed 24 hours beforehand, however, with Arsenal's defeat at Nottingham Forest leaving them four points short with just one game to play.
The trophy could be the first of three this season, with City in the final of both the FA Cup and Champions League, where they will face Manchester United and Inter Milan respectively. And Walker was keen to stress that their season is far from over, with two huge games on the horizon and a chance to make history.
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"It would be fantastic [to win the treble] but there’s a lot of football to be played before we can start saying about the treble," Walker told Sky Sports after the game. "We’ve got two massive finals to do.
"Just for this club and this group of lads I’ve been involved with for six years, to say we’re up there with one of the greatest Premier League teams of all time, we have to go and conquer some of that.
"Obviously we’ve gone and won the Fourmidables and we’ve got our Centurions history there, but to go and get this we can make our mark on being one of the greatest teams of all time in the Premier League."
With top-spot confirmed before kick-off at the Etihad, Pep Guardiola was able to make multiple changes to his starting line-up. That included a first Premier League start for Kalvin Phillips, who has struggled since his arrival from Leeds United last summer.
The 27-year-old candidly admitted that this had been the hardest period of his career in terms of confidence, but Walker reserved special praise for his fellow Yorkshireman, predicting the midfielder to follow others in excelling during his second season at City.
"I think to not be sitting at the top of the league as long as we were - I think it was 11 points at one point - to pin them back, it’s brilliant," the Blues defender added. "They’re all special. Kalvin [Phillips] has won one now and he’s going to win plenty more with this team.
"It’s a fantastic bunch of lads but it’s a special mention to him because this guy is the gent - seriously. He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met in football and he deserves this. He deserves the Premier League and he deserves to get his minutes today.
"Hopefully just like a few of the other ones that have been here, it takes a long time to settle in because of the way the manager wants to play, but he’s shown his quality and that’s why the manager’s gone and bought him. He deserves everything he has."
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