Kalvin Phillips has missed his golden opportunity to revive Man City career

Kalvin Phillips finally got the chance he was waiting for - and somehow ended up worse off than before.

Phillips admitted that he had been waiting for an opportunity like the one that presented itself against Nottingham Forest when Rodri foolishly pushed Morgan Gibbs-White at the throat. Rodri was undroppable, with Phillips forced to feed off scraps, but this was three-and-a-half games where Rodri wouldn't be available. One less obstacle in Phillips' way.

He looked good off the bench against Forest, impressing Pep Guardiola and declaring that the following three games would be the biggest in his stuttering City career. Now those games are up, Phillips hasn't had the impact he will have hoped for. He might even be in a worse position than when Rodri was sent off.

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He would have been expected to start against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup regardless of Rodri's suspension, as Guardiola made wholesale changes anyway. Phillips wasn't particularly good or bad at St James' Park, doing the basics right which cannot always be said. But he hardly forced his way into the line-up at Wolves, like, say, Rico Lewis did with his Leipzig performance.

At Molineux, Mateo Kovacic returned alongside Matheus Nunes. It wasn't a convincing display by either, with Nunes hooked at half time in part due to the reception he was receiving. It won't have been lost on Phillips that Guardiola turned to teenager Oscar Bobb to replace Nunes, with Bobb showing more at Newcastle than he did.

Again, when Phillips came on for the last 25 at Wolves, he wasn't amazing or