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England midfielder Calvin Phillips won his race to be eligible for the World Cup after surgery – but a freak accident in the gym almost ended his chances.
The Manchester City player has revealed that he lost weight on his legs during a gym session two days after breaking into Gareth Southgate’s squad.
Speaking to reporters, Phillips, 26, displayed puncture wounds to his leg.
“If it hadn’t been a 5kg plate, if it had been heavier, it would have been a lot worse,” he said.
He explained to the media in Qatar ahead of England’s first game against Iran on Monday: “It’s a good story to be honest.
Ahead of City’s game against Brentford [last weekend]Being a professional, I hit the gym before the game and was doing a lot of Achilles work on the leg press.
“I went to remove a weight from the rack and there must have been one stuck behind it and I removed it and it fell directly on my leg and cut everything.
“But it wasn’t too bad — it was the training blisters that hurt the most. It wasn’t too bad, but I stood there for about 10 seconds and was like, ‘Oh my god, what is that?’ »
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Phillips played just 14 minutes of competitive football this season and was named to the 26-man squad after undergoing surgery for a shoulder problem.
“My shoulder is fine now. I had the surgery seven-and-a-half weeks ago,” he said.
“It was a 12-week recovery, but I did a lot more than I should have. I wanted to recover quickly so I could go to the World Cup, and I’m here now. »
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