The most recent international break gave England manager Gareth Southgate the opportunity to test his squad in competitive action for the final time before this summer's European Championships.
Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament initially scheduled for last summer will take place this June and July with England playing group matches on home soil.
In the most recent round of international fixtures; qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Southgate awarded three caps to Leeds United's Kalvin Phillips, starting the midfielder in each of the Three Lions' matches against San Marino, Albania and Poland.
Against Albania, Phillips was installed at the base of midfield alongside West Ham United's Declan Rice. Debate has raged amongst fans surrounding whether Southgate is too negative with his team selection, a concept which has been driven by his dual selection of the defensive midfield pair.
However, with the revelation that Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson could well miss out on the tournament through injury, Phillips could step into the 30-year-old's role in the squad.
Speaking on Sky Sports' flagship Monday Night Football programme, pundit and former England international Gary Neville discussed the potential England squad with Jamie Carragher.
One issue which arose was the inclusion of Phillips in the starting XI, a concept which has been extremely popular with Leeds United fans, but not so highly regarded by fans of other teams.
There has been a misconception that Leeds' No. 23 is too negative and does not offer enough in terms of ball progression playing for England, but that could not be more wrong - and Neville agrees.
“Kalvin Phillips is better at passing the ball through the lines at Leeds,” Neville said, as quoted by The Boot Room.
“Henderson and Rice are good on the ball, but I think Phillips is the best out of the three on the ball in terms of accepting the ball and getting it off the back four.
“It has become a really important area for England to connect the back to the front. They’ve struggled over many, many years to be able to do that and get the ball through the midfield. Kalvin Phillips, under Bielsa, is used to getting on the ball all the time.
“Half-turn, pops it through the lines, into the likes of Mount, Rashford, Foden, Sterling – all those players who might play. So for me, I would go for Phillips alongside Rice [to start at Euro 2021]," Neville finished, presenting his case to fellow former England man Carragher.
His quotes followed West Ham United's 3-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers - a game which Declan Rice missed with a rare injury.
Neville's opinion is one which would likely tally with that of Leeds supporters, who have witnessed first-hand just how capable Phillips is at breaking lines from deep, switching the point of attack with his excellent range of passing as well as fulfilling a destructive, defensive role.
