Phillips aims onwards and upwards after play-off final disappointment

Christopher Jack

Sports Journalist

Monday 21 May 2012

MATT PHILLIPS has tasted the Wembley magic, but it is at Hampden where he could ultimately make his name.

West Ham United's Kevin Nolan, left, and Gary O'Neil struggle to contain Matt Phillips. Picture: Reuters

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Christopher Jack

The Blackpool winger will this week join Craig Levein and his Scotland squad for a friendly match with the USA on Sunday, giving him his first chance to impress in dark blue and potentially play himself into contention for a starting berth on the road to Brazil.

The biggest afternoon of Phillips' fledgling career thus far will be tinged with disappointment and regret, though. That Ian Holloway's side suffered a 2-1 defeat to West Ham United on Saturday, missing out on promotion to the Barclays Premier League, will be hard enough for the youngster to take but the manner of their loss, and the fact that the outcome could have been so different, will surely rankle for some time.With the npower Championship play-off final barely 15 minutes old, Phillips could have had Blackpool within touching distance of England's top flight, yet two missed chances, one when clean through on Robert Green's goal and the other a curling shot that went just wide, were to prove costly. He was not the only one in orange who passed up decent opportunities, as goals from Carlton Cole and Ricardo Vaz Te, the former Hibernian forward, cancelled out Thomas Ince's leveller to seal West Ham's win.Levein is a long-time admirer of Phillips' game, with the fixture against the United States this week giving the direct, pacey winger the chance to prove his worth on the international scene and go some way to banishing his Wembley heartache."You saw on Saturday what he is about," Matt Gilks, the Blackpool and Scotland goalkeeper, said. "He is a strong lad and he has got pace to burn. It was unfortunate he couldn't put those two chances away but with a bit more maturity in a couple of years he will be slotting them away. On the whole, he is an all-round great player. You forget how young he is, he has got a massive career ahead of him."He was in the under-19s and under-20s for England and wasn't getting picked for the under-21s. To be involved in a full international team at his age, whether Scotland or England, is a massive achievement."Phillips and Gilks are not the only two Scots who will head into the summer with feelings of what might have been after Holloway's side went close to a return to the English top flight at the first attempt. Stephen Crainey, Barry Ferguson and Stephen Dobbie all took to the field at Wembley yet were left disappointed as West Ham ensured their own stint in the Championship would last only one season.Ferguson, however, has declared his determination to play on well beyond his 35th birthday. He has become an integral part of Holloway's plans in recent months and is keen to captain the Seasiders back into the top flight."It is a joy to play here," the midfielder said. "That is why I came to Blackpool, the manager wants to play the way I think football should be played – on the ground. You could see that on Saturday. Some of the football we played was different class. We don't panic, we just get the ball and pass it. That is why I signed. I spoke to the manager in the summer and the way he plays the game is the way I want to play. We will give it another go next year and hopefully we can go one better."

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Phillips aims onwards and upwards after play-off final disappointment

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