Kalvin Phillips suffered a setback in his attempt to revive his career at Sheffield United as he received a straight red card in the Steel City derby against Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday.
Phillips has endured a torrid time since joining Man City from Leeds for £42million back in 2022.
The midfielder, who was England Men’s Player of the Year in the 2020-21 campaign, has made just 29 starts in club football over the past four years.
That period has encompassed disappointing loan spells at West Ham and Ipswich after he fell firmly out of favour at the Etihad – and Phillips made a temporary switch to Bramall Lane on Deadline Day of the winter window.
Having appeared off the bench in the Blades’ 2-1 defeat by Middlesbrough to make his debut earlier this month, Phillips was handed his first start in their 1-0 win over Portsmouth and was thrown in from the off again on Sunday.
Chris Wilder’s side knew they could relegate their arch-rivals with a win and they went 2-0 up in the first half through goals from Patrick Bamford and Harrison Burrows.
Kalvin Phillips (third right) was sent off for a shocking challenge in Sunday’s Steel City derby
Phillips caught Sheffield Wednesday’s Svante Ingelsson high on the knee in his follow through
However, the game changed when Phillips was sent off for a terrible challenge on Wednesday midfielder Svante Ingelsson.
After getting to the ball first, the 30-year-old’s follow through caught Ingelsson on the right knee, with the Swede left writhing around on the floor in agony.
Phillips did immediately apologise, but referee Josh Smith brandished a red card after a furious reaction from Wednesday’s players.
The midfielder was left shocked as he was seen saying ‘how is that a red card?’ on two occasions.
Charlie McNeil pulled a goal back for the Owls, but despite some late pressure, the Blades held firm to condemn their rivals to their fate as they became the first EFL team to ever be relegated in February.
Phillips’ dismissal means that since January 2024 he has made a combined 19 league starts across loan spells at West Ham, Ipswich and Sheffield United and has received a red card for all three sides.
Speaking after the game, Wilder defended Phillips but admitted that a lack of match action was likely to have played a part in the red card.
‘Once you slow it down it looks pretty bad,’ he told BBC Radio Sheffield. ‘Sometimes when you’ve not played a lot of football recently you can get it wrong.
Phillips joined Sheffield United this month but his challenge was reckless and dangerous
‘We suffer but he suffers more because he’s been outstanding, so for him to miss three games is disappointing.’
Despite the setback, Wilder went on to praise Phillips’ attitude since his winter move to Bramall Lane.
‘He’s such a humble boy,’ he added. ‘My first meeting with him I thanked him for coming here and playing a part, and he thanked me and he was the other way.
‘This is the first time that we’ve seen him a bit down but he’ll get over it and we’ll put work in him and he’ll be OK.’