Ashley Phillips: Tottenham must give pre-season chance to 'one of the best' in coach's career

Ashley Phillips was described as "one of the best" loanees Stoke City boss Mark Robins has ever had, with the defender now back at Tottenham Hotspur.

The 20-year-old central defender has spent the last two seasons out on loan with Stoke, getting some vital senior experience under his belt.

An England youth international, he made a total of 83 competitive first-team appearances for the Potters during his time at the bet365 Stadium.

Tottenham activated Phillips' £2million release clause to sign him from Blackburn Rovers in the summer of 2023 as an 18-year-old.

However, he's not been able to make a single competitive senior appearance for Spurs since his move to N17.

But, backed by the testimony of Robins, Roberto De Zerbi should ensure that he's given an opportunity to change that over the summer.

What did Mark Robins say about Ashley Phillips?

Standing all of 6'4", Phillips is an imposing young centre-back who certainly passes the eye test regarding what coaches look for in a future star at the centre-back position.

He's made a big impression in the Potteries over the last two years as well, with Stoke sure to jump at any possibility of getting him back for a third-straight campaign.

Speaking via The Sentinel ahead of Stoke's final Championship game of last season, Robins made a big claim about Phillips that made it clear just how highly the experienced manager rates him.

“He’s (Phillips) been, I think, one of the best loan players I’ve ever had," Robins said.

“I inherited him last year and then brought him back in the summer.

“Ash, in terms of his availability and in terms of his robustness, desire and commitment to Stoke City, it has been second to none. He is a top, top individual.

“He is so low maintenance and that’s exactly what you want. He’s available all the time.

"His level of performance has always been high and he’s a young player learning. It’s been a really successful couple of seasons for him.”

How good has Phillips been for Stoke?

So, he passes the eye test and has a glowing reference from Robins to go to bat with when it comes to putting pressure on Tottenham giving him a first-team chance.

But do his numbers from his last two seasons in the Championship provide the killer evidence to present to De Zerbi as he formulates his squad plans for next season? Yes, they do.

As per FotMob, from the 40 Championship appearances he made in 2025-26, Phillips wasn't dispossessed once and won 67 per cent of his aerial duels.

He also completed 85.5 per cent of his pass attempts, took 49 touches in the opposition box, won 155 duels and blocked 33 shots.

Phillips was only dribbled past twice all season, as well as making 252 clearances and a total of 336 defensive contributions.

As for his 2024-25 campaign, in which he started all 35 of his second-tier outings for Stoke, he made a total of 307 defensive contributions.

The Manchester-born talent blocked 42 shots, completed 66.7 per cent of his dribbles and registered a passing accuracy of 84.2 per cent.

However, you can see the improvement he's made when you consider he won only 52.4 per cent of his aerial duels in 2024-25, as well as being dispossessed five times.

So, with Phillips contracted at Tottenham until the summer of 2028, this summer could be a perfect time to start bringing him into the first-team fold.

With the futures of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Radu Dragusin all up in the air, as well as World Cup involvement for a number of stars, De Zerbi's defensive ranks may remain thin deep into the summer.

Phillips has now proven himself at Championship level, so surely the next natural progression for him as for a first-team shot in North London.