Blues manager Kieran McKenna says on-loan Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips is in a good place and is going to have an important part to play in the second half of the season.

Phillips made his first start in just under two months at Arsenal a week ago having been harshly red-carded in the home draw against Leicester before rolling an ankle.

The 29-year-old England international has made eight starts and two sub appearances since joining the Blues on loan in the summer, fewer than Town would probably have hoped.

McKenna, who previously dismissed claims the Blues were set to send Phillips back to City in January, says the former Leeds man is now in a decent position, as is his midfield department as a whole.

“Kalvin's good, he’s in a good place,” the Town manager said. “He played almost every game from when he arrived until his sending-off against Leicester. After the sending-off, he got an injury, which meant he missed quite a few weeks. 

“For a few weeks after that, he was just about available but not really available in terms of training fully through the week.

“Now he's had a couple of weeks in a good place, where he's training without any problems with his ankle. He played 30 minutes against Newcastle, played the whole 90 against Arsenal and played another good 20 minutes or so the other night against Chelsea.

“So, he's in a good place fitness-wise and in a good place with the group. We're happy to have him here. I think he's going to have an important part to play in the second half of the season.

“The midfield unit looks strong at the moment, I have to say. Samy [Morsy]’s been pretty consistent right away through the season. Jens [Cajuste] has done very, very well, no doubt about that, over the last few weeks, the last couple of months now, really, and is doing really well with his body as well [having had a knee injury which was being managed]. He's building up his fitness.

“Kalvin had a really solid first half of the season, played lots and lots of minutes before his injury and is now getting back to a good place. He's played right-sided six and left-sided six/eight for us and done well in both roles.

“Jack Taylor has done terrific when he’s come on, especially coming off the bench, but also in his start against Bournemouth. He has shown that he can play at the level.

“Massimo [Luongo] is training him well and is a player that we know we can rely on in different circumstances. I think the midfield unit is in a really healthy place at the moment.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Bazza8564 added 18:01 - Jan 3 I know a lot of Town fans don't rate him but i think hes excellent. He could do a Massimo for us from 2 years ago and make a starting place his own second half. He, Jens and Sam should be "2 from 3" to start now and let's get ourselves moving up this league
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ipswichboi added 18:01 - Jan 3 Can't really see us getting fewer points in the 2nd half of the season, which means we'll stay up. Genuine
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IpswichT62OldBoy added 19:30 - Jan 3 Mass is the next Aloku, part of the Town going forward behind the scenes
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Linkboy13 added 10:32 - Jan 4 Got to show far more commitment and desire if he's going to get a regular place in the team reputations stand for nothing. McKenna and his coaching staff work with him on a regular basis and will know when he's ready. He might be a better player than Morsy on paper but it's on the pitch that counts and Sam always gives his heart and soul to the club and this spreads to the rest of the team and if you have played the game you will know what i mean.

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