Mark Robins has saluted loan teenager Ashley Phillips as he returns to Spurs – particularly after playing through his last month at Stoke City with injury.
Phillips and fellow centre-half Ben Wilmot have been playing through pain over the final few weeks of the season to try to help Stoke stay in the Championship, as did captain Ben Gibson as he returned for the final game of term at Derby on Saturday.
Robins, as ever, has been coy on injury details but Wilmot can now get his problem resolved, Gibson can look forward to a pre-season programme while Phillips is going back to parent club Tottenham Hotspur to see what happens next in his career.
The 19-year-old, who is under contract until 2028, has clearly enjoyed his time at Stoke and a first season of playing regular men’s football. It remains to be seen what Spurs’ plans are, but there will be no shortage of suitors if they sanction another loan.
Stoke’s planning for 2025/26 has been ongoing in the background over the last few months, particularly since the arrival of Ian Torrance as the club’s latest head of recruitment, and it will be interesting to see how their search for a centre-back develops over the next few weeks and months.
Robins said: “I think Ash has got a brilliant future ahead of him. He’s been superb for us. He’s been playing through the last month with injury and got through. Ben Wilmot’s the same, playing with an injury that he needs to have sorted out now the season is over. He’s got through that.
“Gibbo has been injured, we know that, ever since I came in in January. To play a game and get through that is a credit to him as well because it’s the first time I’ve seen him semi-fit. He’s almost fit! He needs a pre-season now, which he will get.
“We’ve been two steps forward, one step back for a while, but thankfully that’s done and we can start to plan once we’ve had a little bit of a breather.”
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