Manchester City star Kalvin Phillips admitted he has still "been keeping an eye" on former club Leeds and remains hopeful they can can preserve their Premier League status amid an ominous relegation battle.
Phillips was part of a Leeds side which won at Brentford on the final day of last season to seal their safety and send Burnley down at their expense. Sam Allardyce's side will need a similar final day miracle this time around, after defeat at West Ham on Sunday left them in the bottom three with 90 minutes of their season remaining.
The England midfielder is no longer part of the squad, having completed a big-money move to Manchester City last summer. He has become a Premier League champion for the first time with his new club, but explained he is still keeping watch on his boyhood side's progress.
"I have been keeping an eye on Leeds all season, to be honest," Phillips told Sky Sports after City's victory over Chelsea on Sunday. "Obviously not a great result today but just pray to God they get a good result in the last game and hopefully keep that great club in the Premier League."
City were already assured of top spot before kicking off against Chelsea. That allowed manager Pep Guardiola to make nine changes, including handing Phillips a first Premier League start for the club, and a first-half goal from Julian Alvarez was enough for all three points against Frank Lampard's side.
"It was a great feeling when I came in this morning and the manager told me I was playing," the 27-year-old said, "I was just happy to be honest. I was happy because we won the league the night before and I knew that there might be a chance I could play, so I just went on relaxed and enjoyed every moment."
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Phillips has barely featured this season for City amidst some injury problems, and he conceded: " It’s been unbelievably tough. It’s probably been one of the lowest moments in myself confidence-wise in my career, but with the guys around me like Kyle [Walker], they’ve kept me going, told me I’ll get my chance and it’ll come. Luckily today it did and I’ve got the guys around me to keep pushing me and working me as hard as possible."
In the day's early kick-off, Leeds began dreaming of safety when Rodrigo fired them into the lead at the London Stadium. West Ham hit back though, with goals from Declan Rice, Jarrod Bowen and Manuel Lanzini giving the home side a 3-1 victory.
"There’s two areas you have to be really good at – defending and the quality in the final third," Leeds boss Allardyce told Match of the Day after the defeat. "Unfortunately for us, particularly in the final third, the amount of times we had men in the box, but the final ball was not good enough.
“We had one chance in the second half to get back to 2-2 which would have been a result I would have been happy satisfied with. But we failed to take it and at this level you pay the consequences."
Leeds host out-of-form Tottenham in their final game, but even a win might not be enough. They sit two points behind Everton, who take on Bournemouth, while Leicester - a point behind the Whites - face Newcastle on Monday before a home meeting with West Ham to close out the campaign.
