Ashley Phillips, a young defender for Tottenham Hotspur who impressed while on loan at Plymouth Argyle, has set his sights on making a big impact for the North London team next season.

The English centre back signed a one-year loan arrangement with Plymouth Argyle, a Championship team, earlier in January. The deal was good until the end of the current campaign. Since joining his new team, Phillips has made a significant impact, playing in 15 FA Cup and Championship games and blending in smoothly with Plymouth’s starting lineup.

During the EFL’s Youth Development Week, Phillips talked about his desire to prove himself and get into the Spurs team for the next season in an interview with The Athletic.

The highly regarded centre back highlighted his ambition to compete for starting opportunities, especially in cup games, in an effort to draw attention from the Spurs management with his loan experience at Plymouth. Additionally, he thanked Plymouth for giving him consistent playing time while he was on loan.

Phillips stated: “With this loan, I’m hoping to earn the Spurs coaches’ trust and be able to push myself to start occasionally, maybe in cup competitions.” I have only words of gratitude for Plymouth allowing me to routinely come down here and obtain minutes.

After obtaining Ashley Phillips from Blackburn Rovers and exercising his £2 million release clause, Tottenham signed him to a five-year contract last summer. This season, the 18-year-old centre back was not used by Ange Postecoglou’s team. He did, however, play four games in Premier League 2 and the EFL Trophy for the club’s U21 squad.