Kalvin Phillips makes Manchester City promise and issues verdict on new formation after first Leeds United start under Jesse Marsch

Making his first start under the American in the goalless draw with Crystal Palace on Tuesday night, Phillips was deployed in a two-man midfield.

The last time he started a game for his beloved hometown club was as a single midfielder under Marcelo Bielsa in December.

“It’s very different. I like both ways to be fair - I don’t mind playing as a single and I don’t mind playing as a double,” said Phillips in the aftermath of the goalless draw.

“You’ve got a lot of help when me and [Matuesz] Klichy and Robin [Koch] are working together. The new formation is good and hopefully we can keep performances up and build on what we’ve done.

“I enjoyed it, it was nice to be back. I wish we’d performed a little bit better. We’re trying to get to grips with the new formation, the way that we play, back up to match fitness and if we keep on going like that then hopefully we’ll be there soon.”

The Eagles clash followed a sixteen-day break from Premier League action as Leeds' scheduled match against Chelsea was postponed last weekend so the Blues could contest the FA Cup semi-final.

With five games left to go, Chelsea and Arsenal stand between the Whites and the end of their Premier League season, with a tough clash against Manchester City coming up on Saturday evening.

The scale of the challenge isn't lost on Phillips but the United talisman insists his side will give everything against the league leaders.

"We’ve got tough fixtures [ahead]," Phillips said. "From now until the end of the season it was always going to be tough for us.

"You know what you’re getting when you play against Leeds and you know that you’ve got to work as hard as possible and that’s what we do.

"We can grind it out against City in the next game.

"You could say so [that Leeds were missing match fitness]. Personally for me I haven’t played since December so I was blowing.

"The little break probably didn’t help us and we were on a little bit of a run before that.

"We haven’t lost in the last five games so hopefully we can keep that up."

The Whites put in an admirable defensive display at Selhurst Park, holding off a late charge from Patrick Vieira's side to bag their second successive clean sheet.

Phillips was pleased that Leeds didn't concede on his return, and gave due credit to the Whites' shot-stopper who made a whopping seven saves to defend a well-needed point in the fight for survival.

"It’s very satisfying," Phillips said. "Illan, the big man in there is buzzing that he kept a clean sheet, he made a good double save at the end.

"We’re very happy as a team and disappointed not to get the three points."