Phillips makes his mark on European stage

Wycombe Wanderers youngster Matt Phillips is making the most of an unexpected call-up to the England U19 squad which will no doubt be working wonders for his confidence.


England are playing in a four-nation qualifying group in Ukraine and the prize for the group winners is a place in the U19 European Championship finals to be played in France this July.

Phillips received an unexpected call-up to the England squad last week and came off the bench to play the final 15 minutes of their 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday.

Promoted to the starting line-up for today's clash with Bosnia & Herzegovina, Phillips played the entire ninety minutes and marked the occasion with a fine goal from 25 yards after only 19 minutes of England's 4-0 win.

England U19s Head Coach Noel Blake was pleased with some of the individual performances he saw, saying: "We did well all over the pitch and combined really well. Matty Phillips has come in for his first start for the U19s and did really well. It was a good team performance though, so we can take that forward into Monday."

With Ukraine having beaten Bosnia & Herzegovina 4-1 and lost 1-0 to Ireland, England only need a draw against the host nation on Monday to win the group and progress to July's eight-nation European finals in France

Phillips is under contract with Wycombe until next summer and although it's rumoured that other clubs are showing great interest in the Chairboys' home grown starlet, most fans would prefer to watch his silky skills help the Blues win promotion back to League One next season rather than see another club reap the benefits of the careful nurturing he's received during his formative years at Adams Park.

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