Nat Phillips Speaks of “Massive” Premier League Debut

Nat Phillips started his first ever Premier League game yesterday.

Nat Phillips was named man of the match yesterday.

Ok, part of it was the opposition. West Ham got an early goal and pretty much stopped attacking after that. The only question was whether Liverpool would get two back (thankfully, they did). But no doubt it was a hugely positive step for the defender. He seemed buzzing.

“It’s massive, it’s what I’ve dream of growing up and obviously to have that opportunity was huge for me and my family,” Phillips told Sky Sports, as reported by This Is Anfield.

“So really happy to have done so and to get a good result.

“It was Thursday training the gaffer mentioned [starting] to me and said as long as nothing happens before Saturday you’ll be playing so I just knew I had to keep myself fit until the weekend.

“Obviously the last few weeks I’ve sort of known that there was a possibility coming up with the injuries we’ve hard so I’ve made sure I stayed prepared in case the opportunity did come.

“I think it was important for me to just do the basics early on just to settle any nerves that I might have, try not to overcomplicate things too much,” he continued.

“As the minutes go on you sort of settle in the game, I really enjoyed it – it was a tough battle, a lot of aerial battles but I would say that’s probably one of my strengths.

“So I enjoyed that side of it but like I said, most importantly we got the good result.

“Possibly [more opportunities], but I’ve just been concentrated on this weekend up until now but if the opportunity does arise again I’ve got to make sure I’m ready for that.”

It’s a long season and, in truth, hopefully Phillips won’t be called into action too often. But if he is, it’s reassuring to know he can look the part at Premier League level.