Queens Park Rangers v Leeds United - Battle of Three Lions young pretenders will be key

The fact that Phillips is on the radar of England’s Yorkshire-based manager should also provide encouragement to his contemporaries in rival colours – including one he will line up against today.

By common consent, Eberechi Eze is being marked out as one of the division’s next big things, with his performances having drawn covetous glances from a host of Premier League clubs, including Sheffield United.

It makes for a fascinating subplot today as the gifted 21-year-old, already capped by England Under-21s, lines up directly against Phillips, whose praise towards his rival is gushing.

Eze excelled in a losing cause for Rangers in the reverse fixture at Elland Road, having also previously showcased his talents against Leeds last season.

Phillips said: “Eze is one of the best I have played against.

“It is the way he moves the ball and his body, it is very difficult to keep up to that. I like tackling, but when you cannot get near somebody you cannot do that.

“You know when a player is good enough to surprise you. You just have to try and outmatch them.

“We will look to try and make it very difficult for him and the QPR team. We will look to press them and, hopefully, take a few chances.”

Leeds may have taken a moral victory of sorts after handing Arsenal the equivalent of a footballing lesson in the first-half of their 1-0 FA Cup exit at The Emirates Stadium just under a fortnight ago, but the fact remains that trips to London have not been paved in gold in recent times.

The Whites have suffered league losses at Fulham, Charlton Athletic and Millwall already this season following defeats last term against Brentford and QPR – in league and Cup.

Under head coach Marcelo Bielsa, Leeds have taken just a solitary point from six league trips to the capital, with Jack Harrison’s late goal earning a point at The New Den in September, 2018.

As for talk of any cure, the Argentine is quick to cast down any such aspersions.

He commented: “It is not about a geographic matter. Every time, every match opponent and every analysis is different.

“To say we do not ever win in London, to think that if we play the same opponent in Birmingham, we would win...

“They are questions that are very different to interprete. What’s in London? An additional difficulty? I ignore this.”

Bielsa may well be right to apply logic to the situation, but the fact remains that you have to go back to December, 2017 for Leeds’s last league win in London, with their last nine visits in all competitions yielding no wins.

Rather more encouragingly, their previous victory did arrive at today’s West London venue.

Kemar Roofe’s hat-trick saw United secure a 3-1 victory at Loftus Road under Thomas Christiansen.