Matt Phillips always believed he would get another chance at QPR.
After a spell in the wilderness tied in with injury, the one thin ray of light in the relegation gloom has been the form of the winger bought from Blackpool for a reported £5 million in August, 2013.
His rocket at Crystal Palace together with another confident showing in the 2-1 defeat to Everton on Sunday was testimony to the 24-year-old’s patience.
Even though he got few outings under ex-boss Harry Redknapp, the Scotland international insists he was never totally out of the loop even under the previous regime.
However, Chris Ramsey has consistently seen Phillips as an outlet down the left and the right wings as Rs scrambled for points, mostly in vain, throughout February and March.
“For players who haven’t been playing, especially those low on confidence, it’s good to have someone whose hands on and gives you confidence, like Chris," Phillips said.
“I spoke with Les (Ferdinand) as well, and to be fair (Bond) Kevin and Harry Redknapp before that. I was waiting for my opportunity. Thankfully, that’s come.
“It got a bit frustrating and I needed to play games. Reserve games are nothing like the real deal; you can’t really get up to scratch like that.
At the beginning of the season I wasn’t quite ready to play, but it was tough. Always knew in the back of my head one day I would get the chance to play again.”
This is the second time Phillips has been involved in a top-flight relegation scrap.
The first was with Blackpool in season 2010-11 didn’t end well when after a promising start. The Seasiders were swamped in the second half of the season to finish one point shy of safety.
Phillips reckons it was the surprise element that allowed Blackpool to get up a head of steam, before they got found out.
“The players at Blackpool were a lot less well know than here at QPR; it was a different scenario,” he explained.
“Up until Christmas we were doing well back then, and then let it slip. This time everyone knows QPR well. We can still pick up three or four wins, because that’s the ability we’ve got here.”
