Kalvin Phillips opens up on his 'bad luck' as ex-Leeds United man makes optimistic prediction

Kalvin Phillips hopes to be able to draw a line under his recent run of 'bad luck' and start afresh with West Ham United in the coming weeks. The former Leeds United midfielder had been keen to make a good impression in his first few weeks in east London after making the loan switch from Manchester City in the January transfer window.

However, it's fair to say he has struggled to find his feet in claret and blue and in his first four Premier League games for the club he has committed two errors that led to goals and received a red card. The first error came just a few minutes into his debut as he gifted Bournemouth an opening goal and he was the man that gave the ball away a few days later in the build up to a Manchester United goal at Old Trafford.

Phillips came off the bench in the second half the next week as the Hammers were beaten 6-0 by Arsenal and that was before his dismissal for a second yellow card in the 2-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Saturday. It's been nothing short of a nightmare start for him at West Ham, but Phillips is hopeful of being able to leave his misfortune behind him once he returns from his suspension.

"They say bad luck comes in threes, so let's hope I've had my three pieces of it and I can kick on now," he said, per the BBC. "I wanted this to be a fresh start, to really get my head down and go for it. It's not gone as I would have hoped. Everyone can see that. But I know football. I'm experienced enough to know that if I get my head down and grit my teeth and do the basics right, that things will turn."

Phillips made the move to West Ham to pick up the game time needed to get his career back on track and make sure of his spot in the England squad after struggling to make his mark at Manchester City.

"There are certain things you need to do on a football pitch. OK, I was training with the best team in the world, but games get you sharper," he added. "You can train all you like but you are never going to really get match fit and match sharp unless you play games. So, that's the reason I'm frustrated and gutted."