Ashley Phillips has outlined his Premier League ambition after joining Middlesbrough from Tottenham Hotspur. The 21-year-old defender believes the club is the right place to achieve that goal as they push for promotion from the Championship.
Phillips, who scored a dramatic stoppage-time winner on his Riverside debut against Norwich City, is settling into life on Teesside. He made his second start of the season in the recent 2-2 draw with Millwall, playing the full 90 minutes at the Riverside.
"I’m really enjoying it here so far," Phillips said. "The manager's top and the players are top - it's a great group, and yeah, I'm sure we'll do great things this season."
His arrival came after two years on loan at Stoke City and a limited pre-season, joining Boro just before the campaign began. He is now focused on building his fitness and contributing to a promotion push. The club's recent form, with just one defeat in their last five matches, has helped them climb to third in the standings.
"There's only one goal this season and that's the Premier League," Phillips stated. "As a group we believe we can do that, so it's just about executing it on the pitch."
Phillips described his late winner against Norwich as an unbelievable introduction. "I don’t know what I was doing in that position."
Middlesbrough currently sit third in the Championship table with 14 points from seven games. Their next test is a trip to face Birmingham City, who are 10th, on Saturday before the international break. Phillips sees the break as a chance for a mini pre-season to prepare for the next batch of fixtures.
The defender's immediate target is to help Boro maintain their strong start, with the club having scored 14 goals so far this term. He will hope to feature again at St Andrew's as Middlesbrough aim to close the gap on the automatic promotion places. Phillips has played 90 goal minutes in his two starts so far, and the team will be looking to build on their positive stats as they head into a key period of the season.
More detail at Teesside Live
