Leeds United midfield enforcer Kalvin Phillips has set himself the goal of making his Whites teammates proud after receiving his first England call-up.
The Whites academy graduate, who is affectionately known as the 'Yorkshire Pirlo' in LS11, was handed his maiden Three Lions call-up by Gareth Southgate on Tuesday.
Phillips has been named in England's 24-man squad for next month's Uefa Nations League tussles with Iceland and Denmark, becoming the first Leeds player to have been named in the England senior squad since Alan Smith more than 16 years ago.
Southgate's decision has fulfilled a lifetime ambition of Phillips', who went on record as expressing his desire to one day pull on an England shirt after it was confirmed by Southgate that he had been keeping tabs on the Whites midfielder's progress.
Now, with just over a week to go until England face Iceland in their first outing of the 2020/21 campaign, Phillips has paid credit to everyone connected with the club, as well as setting himself the target of doing his teammates proud.
"I am buzzing," Phillips admitted. "I never thought, years before this, that I would ever get to this position, but I am here now and I would just like to thank my teammates, the coaching staff and Leeds United for helping me get there."
As well as highlighting the role of his teammates and members of the coaching staff, Phillips also pinpointed the togetherness within the Leeds squad playing a factor.
He continued: "It is massive. I have never been around a team that has been this together. Everyone likes each other and everyone is friendly with each other so it is massive.
"It didn't just mean the world to me, it meant the world to the lads, who are buzzing for me. Hopefully I can make them proud."
Though this moment is going to stand out fondly as Phillips' career highlight so far, the 24-year-old, who will soon fulfil another dream and play for his boyhood club in the Premier League, is adamant that he is going to make the very most of it in an attempt to take him to an even higher level.
"Obviously it is a big step, but it is one that I am going to try and take with everything that I can do," added the Leeds star.
"It is a massive thing for me, a massive thing for my family and I just want to push onto to do even better every time I get a little bit of something."
