Nat Phillips: I'm really proud of what we've achieved together

In a campaign in which the Reds were beset by a raft of injuries, particularly in the central defensive area, Jürgen Klopp’s side found themselves in eighth position in the standings as recently as early March, seven points behind fourth.

However, a run of eight wins and two draws from their final 10 fixtures saw Liverpool ascend the table – and the weekend’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at Anfield confirmed a return to the Champions League for 2021-22.

Phillips was integral to that sequence, starting every one of those games to tally a total of 17 league appearances in a watershed season for the centre-back.

The 24-year-old spoke to Liverpoolfc.com following the final whistle at Anfield on Sunday to reflect on the achievement of securing a top-four finish as well as his own development over the course of the term.

LFCTV GO: Nat Phillips' reaction to Champions League qualification

On achieving the target of Champions League qualification after a difficult season…

I couldn’t be happier. I think maybe eight games ago it looked like it could have been out of sight. It’s taken the whole team, everybody at the club, to really dig in and the form we hit right at the end of the season, the levels we reached, and even the games when things weren’t going for us but we managed to grind it out and stick at it. I’m just really proud of the whole team and all the staff because it took a lot of strength to keep going and stick at it and we’ve got our rewards.

On how Liverpool got their season back on track…

We had various team meetings throughout the season and had open conversations about anything we feel we might need to address and that sort of thing. But I couldn’t put my finger on anything, to be honest. I think part of it is psychological; once you start to develop a bit of consistency and hit form, it’s a lot easier to go into games without worries or concerns and truly believing that you are going to come away with a win before the game. Throughout the first half of the season, I think because we struggled to ever hit any real form or consistency maybe there was always that doubt or insecurity, but we managed to find it at the right time and we are playing Champions League football next year.

On needing to be prepared to grind it out against Palace…

I’d like to think that certainly myself, but all the other boys too, those sort of demons felt like they had been put behind us before today where we’ve dropped points at the end of games or lost concentration and let easy goals go in at the end. But, certainly concentration was high, we knew what was at stake so everybody was getting onto each other and making sure everybody was at it. It’s been like that for the last five to six games I would say, so it was no different today and it was just really impressive stuff from everyone.

On what he takes from the season on a personal level…

The best way to sum it up is just be proud of all the boys. Going into the start of the season we had high aspirations and higher expectations, but certain things happened, the situation changed and we had to adjust and adapt to that. Like I said earlier on, it did look like it was a bit out of sight, and to claw our way back into it the way we have done, every individual in the team can be proud of that and the mental strength [we showed] and sort of refusal to give in or accept that it’s over.

On looking forward to next term…

Don’t get me wrong, even though I feel like this season has been successful for me I know I’ve got plenty to work on and plenty to improve on and that’s what I will be doing in the off season. I’ll have a little break and then get back to training on my own and working on things that maybe you don’t get the opportunity to work on during the season because it’s so intense. So, I’ll be doing that and hopefully have a strong pre-season and just continue to develop and build on what I have so far this year.