Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder hails on-loan Manchester City man Kalvin Phillips after win over Portsmouth
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder hailed Kalvin Phillips following the midfielder’s first Blades start against Portsmouth.
The 30-year-old joined on loan from Manchester City on deadline day and was introduced to the starting XI at Fratton Park.
He helped keep Pompey at bay, completing 90 minutes before being replaced by Oliver Arblaster ahead of added time.
The Leeds United academy graduate enjoyed his first win as a Blades loanee, as Andre Brooks struck late to clinch a 1-0 win for the visitors.
Chris Wilder on Kalvin Phillips’ first start
Discussing Phillips’ performance, Wilder said: “He was great. He should have only done about 60 minutes, but he ended up doing 85 minutes, which I think tells a lot about what he’s like as a lad.
“His target at Manchester City was to try and move Rodri, who was the Ballon d’Or winner. That’s quite a difficult one. He’s a good kid, he just wants to play football.”
Sheffield United mentality praised
Sheffield United did not enjoy the lion’s share of possession at Fratton Park, nor did they register more shots than Pompey. However, Wilder was pleased with his side’s mentality.
He said: “Sometimes games are won on mentality. You can’t always play well. We played well on Monday against arguably the best team in the division (Middlesbrough).
“The art of what you need to do is when you’re not at your best, which we weren’t, is that you have to rely on your mentality. If we weren’t together, then we’d have been rolled over.”
The Portsmouth view
Portsmouth boss John Mousinho, meanwhile, said: “I thought [in] the first half we were really dominant, very good performance, but we didn’t show enough composure in front of goal and slashed at a couple of opportunities.
“It was a slightly different game in the second half, but I thought once we got to grips with it, we looked more likely to win in the last 20, 25 minutes and unfortunately got caught on the break.
“Every game from now until the end of the season is going to be massive. The next one is the biggest one.”