Phillips wants to fire West Brom to strong Premier League finish

Winger Matt Phillips wants to help West Bromwich Albion finish the Premier League season strongly after returning from a six-week lay-off with a hamstring injury.

It wasn’t a happy return for the Scotland international, however, as he came off the bench for the second half of the Baggies’ 2-0 defeat at Watford last Tuesday.

Phillips, who has scored five goals and assisted eight this season, then started the 1-0 home loss against Southampton on Saturday.

With a chance of equalling their highest-ever Premier League finish in their hands, eighth-placed West Brom will be keen to ensure those back-to-back defeats don’t lead to their season tailing off.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

“On a personal level it was great for me to be back out on the pitch playing again,” said Phillips.

“It’s been five or six weeks since I have played so it was important to get through an hour or so against Southampton.

“It was good to be able to complete 60 minutes but it was obviously a disappointing result on Saturday.

“There’s plenty of time to recover ahead of the Liverpool game on Sunday and I am hoping to have a good week in training and then push on.

“We’ve got six games left now and the boys are all so determined to make sure we get as many points on the board as possible.”