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Pep Guardiola has delivered a crushing blow to Kalvin Phillips by tempering his expectations over further appearances for Manchester City . Phillips made his first City appearance in 21 months as they beat Huddersfield in the Carabao Cup last month, but he remains way down the pecking order at the club. The 29-year-old midfielder is stuck on the fringes at City, where he has made just 32 appearances since joining from Leeds United for £45million in July 2022. He spent last season on loan with Ipswich Town, playing 19 times in all competitions as the Tractor Boys were relegated from the Premier League . Phillips failed to find a new club in the summer transfer window, with his wages at City and his contract until the summer of 2028 proving problematic. He was given seven minutes off the substitutes’ bench in the 2-0 win over Huddersfield on September 24, but Guardiola says he won’t start in the fourth round against Swansea on Wednesday night. “For a start no but maybe he will travel with us,” Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference. “He is a player for the team, the squad. He is coming back, he trains with us, we treat him like another player. “The decision of whether he plays or not belongs to me. He is always an unbelievable guy. It is a joy to have him in the locker room.” Prior to last month, Phillips had gone 645 days without playing for the club that pays his wages, with his previous game coming at the 2023 Club World Cup. He has been frozen out by Guardiola, who generally likes to work with smaller squads in order to keep everybody happy. The route back against Huddersfield clearly meant a lot to Phillips, who had struggled with an Achilles issue in the early months of the season. He wrote on Instagram : “It’s been a long 3 and a half months out and there’s still work to be done personally. “Nevertheless, I’m so happy to be back out on the pitch again in a City shirt. Thank you to the fans for your support, it doesn’t go unnoticed. Onto the next round @mancity.” City are once again without holding midfielder Rodri, who has picked up a thigh injury after returning from his ACL problem. But Phillips still remains without a route into the starting XI against Championship side Swansea. Guardiola gave an update on Rodri, as well as Abdukodir Khusanov and Erling Haaland , in his press conference. “Khusa is ready to play a few minutes tomorrow and Rodri is still not,” he said. “So [it] is getting better, training with us partially. But, of course, after what happened two times with the muscular injuries we are going to see how he is this week. Erling, I didn’t see him today but it was a knock and day by day is better. But now we train this afternoon and will know more exactly how he feels.” Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
