Mark Robins says Stoke City are over the moon to sign Ashley Phillips after securing the defender’s return from Tottenham Hotspur on a season-long loan.
Phillips, aged 20, was one of the first names on the teamsheet after Robins took over as Stoke manager in January and ended up playing a key role in keeping the Potters out of trouble in the Championship.
Ambitions have been raised significantly this summer and Phillips wanted to come back once Spurs were ready to sanction another year away. There was interest from Sheffield United and Birmingham City as well as European clubs but it was Stoke who managed to win the race.
How 22 Stoke City players rated vs Crewe as Bosun Lawal shows initiative
Crewe Alexandra 1 Stoke City 2 live – Bosun Lawal and Sorba Thomas seal win in front of sell-out away end
Robins, fresh from overseeing a 2-1 friendly win over Crewe, said: “I’m absolutely delighted.
“He was brilliant for us last season. I spoke with him while we were away in Spain and Jon Walters has been working really hard behind the scenes on that and thankfully he’s got it over the line. We’re over the moon. We’ve got another centre-half in the building and that gives us four really good Championship centre-halves to help us compete and do better this season.”
There is hope that Phillips can continue the rate of development he showed during his first term at Stoke.
Robins said: “He’d played at Plymouth but that was his first full season playing regularly in the Championship last year and what I saw was somebody who was a really good young player at Championship level already. At 19 then, he’s turned 20 now, he’s got that experience under his belt and he couldn’t wait to come back, which is brilliant to hear.
“When you’re signing players you want to know that they’re 100 per cent in it.”
Leave a Reply