Blackburn Rovers (A) | Phillips' Preview
Saturday is a homecoming of sorts for on-loan defender Ashley Phillips.
The teenager is currently borrowed from Tottenham Hotspur, but the North London side bought Ashley last summer, when he was still just 17, from Blackburn Rovers, who just happen to be Argyle’s opponents this weekend.
Phillips played 14 times for Blackburn, with whom he developed through the Academy, and says going back to Ewood Park is something he is looking forward to. When the whistle blows, though, he will be all business.
“I'm really looking forward to it,” he said. “It's a club I was at since 12, 13 years old. The club's been massive for me and my development so far as a player.
“It'll be really good to go back and see some old faces, see some of the coaching staff who really helped me kick on as a player when I was young, helping me get that move to Tottenham Hotspur.
“It'll be great to see them, but ultimately it’s a big game for us and I'll be fully focused on me, as a Plymouth Argyle player, and making sure we get three points.”
Argyle and Blackburn are level on points, Rovers a place lower on goal difference, and both are part of a very congested bottom half of the table as we enter the season’s run-in.
“It's a massive game,” said Phillips. “We're in similar positions, and three points could really help us in our fight to remain in the Championship, which we fully believe we can do.
“We are remaining positive. We’ve got 30 points to play for, 10 massive games now, and we're taking each game as it comes. We're treating every game the same and, more than ever, we need to fight for the three points. We, as a squad, fully believe we can do that.”
If selected, Phillips will be part of a defensive unit that will have to contend with Sammie Szmodics, the leading goalscorer in the Sky Bet Championship. Szmodics has 20 league goals, plus another six in cup competions, and has scored in his last three games.
Phillips, who has typically lined up in a back three alongside Lewis Gibson and Brendan Galloway for the Pilgrims, spent some time with Szmodics at Rovers, and is now looking forward to attempting to stop the in-form forward.
He said: “I'm looking forward to playing against him. He's always been a good player; he's always had that ability. I feel like I know him fairly well. I feel like I can use that against him and hopefully stop him scoring.
“I feel like the partnership I have at the back with [Lewis] Gibson and [Brendan] Galloway's top; they're two great defenders and I feel like against any attack, we back ourselves, even against the [teams at the] top of the league.
“It's really easy to build a connection with them. From the first game together, we instantly clicked.
“I think we feed off each other really well. You've got Gibson in the middle. He's a leader in there, he helps me out quite a lot in the game. He's always talking to me, letting me know, getting me in the right position.
“Brendan has been a really good form recently. He's a top player, played games at the highest level, and I've learned a lot of both of them. I can take what I learn from them and bring it into my own game.
“It's always frustrating when you can concede a goal, but, if you keep a clean sheet like we did against Swansea, we dug in until the end, defended for our lives and we got a clean sheet. The feeling after getting a clean sheet is amazing.”
