Ashley Phillips on his Stoke return

Ashley Phillips will return to his old stomping ground tomorrow night when England men’s under-21s have the chance to seal qualification for the 2027 UEFA U21 EURO in Stoke.

The defender, who spent two seasons on loan at Stoke City from Tottenham Hotspur, signed for EFL Championship club Middlesbrough in the summer.

And Boro are well represented in the latest MU21s squad, with Will Lankshear and Amario Cozier-Duberry also called up by head coach Lee Carsley.

“I’ve made a good start at Boro,” said Phillips. “We’re third at the minute. I’m learning loads there. It’s a fantastic football club.

“It’s great to represent Middlesbrough from a country level. We’ve all started the season very well, so it’s about continuing that when we go back.”

Phillips’ club and international teammate Lankshear has made an impressive start to the campaign, scoring eight goals in 11 games across all competitions at club level.

And the forward picked up where he left off with England, finding the back of the net in the Young Lions’ 4-2 victory over Kazakhstan in Wolverhampton last Friday.

“We both push each other,” explained Phillips. “It’s great to have a top striker because he improves me and I improve him, in a sense.

“He’s started fantastic. He’s scoring near enough every game. That’s what we want from him.”

Both Thomas Tuchel and Carsley’s sides reported for duty last week ahead of September-October camp.

And Phillips, whose aim is to make it into the senior squad one day, enjoys watching the Three Lions in action.

“The centre backs are fantastic centre backs,” he said. “They’re all playing at top, top clubs. That’s the benchmark. You want to get to that level.

“You see them training every day and think, ‘I want to be involved in that’. It’s nice to be at St. George’s Park where you’re in and around it.

“I like to watch them every week and see what they’re doing to help me improve my game.

“It’s about pushing myself and seeing how quickly I can get to that level. You want to look back at the end of your career and think, ‘I played for England.’”

Tomorrow night, the MU21s face Slovakia in Stoke and the defending champions are within touching distance of booking their place at next year’s tournament.

And for Phillips, it’s a part of the country he knows well from his temporary spells with the Potters where he learnt a thing or two from a former England international.

“I had Ryan Shawcross there which helped me loads,” he recalled. “He’s helped me improve massively in that aspect.

“There was a lot of competition there, to begin with. We pushed each other and made sure we were top every day. That helped us get the best defensive record, I think it was up until March.”

And should the Young Lions qualify for the tournament, to go on and win it for a third successive cycle would be a huge achievement for Phillips.

“It’d mean everything,” said Phillips. “To win the under-21s, it’s almost your last step before the seniors so if you can win a medal, it’d mean the world to me.”

Find out how you can watch the MU21s against Slovakia live on the official England app.