Pundit: It may be a ‘month’ before Phillips is fully fit at Leeds after blow
Kalvin Phillips could take up to a month to get back up to speed after making his return for Leeds United.
That is according to former Aston Villa defender Alan Hutton who, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, admitted Marcelo Bielsa had no choice but to bring the 25-year-old back into the side.
Phillips was named among the starting XI for the first time in five games against West Ham on Monday night.
However, he was unable to prevent the Whites from suffering a 2-0 defeat in east London.
Leeds won just once in the four games he missed due to a calf injury suffered in early February.
Overall, Bielsa’s men have lost six out of eight Premier League matches without their midfield talisman.
Hutton insisted Phillips‘ immediate return was inevitable but warned he would not be at his best for a while.
“Look, it’s a no-brainer to bring him straight back in,” Hutton told Football Insider assistant editor Russell Edge.
“Struijk tried to play there but he’s not a Kalvin Phillips. As soon as he’s fit you’re going to try bring him in. However, it’s not a light switch, you can’t just turn it on and off.
“It’s going to take him a few weeks. Of course, expectation is massive, he’s now an England player so you expect him just to come in and be a nine out of 10.
“However, it takes a couple of games to get your body back into shape. I go back to the likes of John McGinn. He was out for such a long time. All the hopes were pinned on him coming in and making a difference.
“It took him probably a month or so because he was out for a long time to get back to speed. Kalvin Phillips is the same.
“Even when you miss two, three, four games, it still takes a couple to get back to that level that you were at.”
In other news, Leeds United stance on signing Adama Traore from Wolves revealed by Football Insider.