Sky Sports pundit claims Leeds have been hit by ‘massive loss’ over £20k-a-wk player
Darren Bent has claimed that Kalvin Phillips’ three-match ban is a “massive loss” for Leeds United in their Championship promotion bid.
Phillips, 24, was shown a straight red card on Saturday for an ugly two-footed lunge at QPR’s Geoff Cameron.
The Leeds midfielder seemed to know straight away that his challenge was deserving of a red card and there can be no complaints that he is set to miss the next three games.
Leeds will have to play against Millwall, Wigan and Nottingham Forest while Phillips is unavailable and two of those games especially are by no means easy ones.
Sky Sports pundit Bent is fully aware of how much Phillips’ suspension is going to have an impact on the Whites.
“Yeah, it’s a massive loss to Leeds because he’s a very good player, as we’ve spoken about before,” Bent told Football Insider.
“We know that he’s got that in him, that rash tackle and he’s going to be a big, big miss.
“Obviously Leeds have got to find a way of coping without him now and try to get results because we’ve seen it last season when Leeds turned the year, started to have a few indifferent results and next thing you know they fall by the wayside.”
Phillips is the best defensive midfielder in the league and there has been talk of him being on Gareth Southgate’s radar as he chooses his England squad for Euro 2020 this season.
Any player in the Championship would miss a player of Phillips’ quality but his aggression is what makes him the midfielder he is.
We do not want to see tackles like Phillips’ on Cameron, but the fact that he can show that edge to his game is kind of why he is such a good midfield enforcer for Leeds.
He shouldn’t overstep the mark but maybe this red card offence will be a lesson for the £20,000-a-week [Daily Mail] Leeds star.
In other Leeds United news, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is delighted with the Whites’ pursuit of this Premier League striker.