Spurs teenager's rising status as Stoke City look to lay platform for new-look attack
Teammates are seeing the progress in Ashley Phillips as Stoke City’s defence tries to lay down a platform for a new-look attack.
Stoke have kept four clean sheets in seven league games since Boxing Day and have only let in more than one goal in one, a bad night at Portsmouth.
Phillips, aged 19, has played all-but five minutes of that run and Stoke have been able to keep him on loan for the rest of the season despite a spate of injuries at centre-back for parent club Tottenham.
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Stoke have been goal-shy this season and even as Mark Robins tries to free them up in an attack led by recalled Nathan Lowe and new signing Ali Al-Hamadi, it will be useful if one goal will be enough to win a match.
Michael Rose, who has come in to partner Phillips in the last couple of weeks, said: “He’s come on a lot this season, I think just from playing a lot of games. I think he’s been brilliant, he’s got huge potential and I still think he’s got so much to learn as well, which is a good thing. He’s going to have a big career ahead of him if he keeps playing the way he is.”
He added: “It’s just the fundamentals (with the whole defence), getting that right at the start. Shutting them out at the back end gives us a chance to win matches. I think we’ve been pretty good at that lately and it’s just that bit of quality up the top end of the pitch which I think will come.
“The manager used to play in that position and he’ll be giving the front boys little tips and little things in training to try to help them. Hopefully we can see that in the next few weeks.”
Lowe and Al-Hamadi played together for the first time in last weekend’s crucial Championship win at Hull and Rose is excited to see the partnership develop.
“You can see in training that Ali’s got quality and he’s definitely going to bring quality to the squad, which is good,” he said. “He’s not a shy boy as well, which is also a good thing so it looks like a good addition.”
He added: “When I first came in you could see that Nathan did probably need a loan and some proper men’s football and he’s gone away and did brilliant, scored loads of goals. The manager will know more than me because he was a striker – and the first thing he did was call him back.
“He sees something there, wants to work with him and you can see it, yes. Since he’s come back he looks a lot more confident and he’s still young, still needs time and I think Ali coming in will help him as well, with those two playing up front, if they do. It looks like it’s helped him a lot.”
For all that, Lowe and Al-Hamadi are cup-tied this weekend as Stoke take on Cardiff at home in the FA Cup fourth round (Saturday, 3pm).
Rose is looking forward to the tie and the chance to have a bit of an adventure which he hopes will rub off on league form too.
“You just have to get through to the next round and try to get a big team,” he said. “When the manager came in he said he wanted to go on a good cup run, that was one of his aims, and it helps build a little bit of momentum as well. It takes you away from the league but you still want that mentality to try to win games.”
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