Kalvin Phillips sees room for improvement despite Leeds United's positives from Arsenal draw

The Whites are back in action this weekend as they travel to Everton in the Premier League.
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Kalvin Phillips believes Leeds United still have plenty of improvement to make despite seeing positives in a draw with Arsenal.

The Whites have made a strong start to life in the Premier League, having picked up 11 points from their opening nine games whilst adjusting to new surroundings and top class opposition.

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Mikel Arteta's Gunners outfit were the latest to put Marcelo Bielsa's side through their paces last weekend.

Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips. Pic: Tony Johnson.Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips. Pic: Tony Johnson.
Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips. Pic: Tony Johnson.

United, though, dominated much of the encounter at Elland Road, as they looked for a response to two disappointing defeats before the November international break.

Leeds were beaten heavily by Leicester City and Crystal Palace in the space of six days, conceding four goals on each occasion.

Bielsa's men returned to their early season form against Arsenal as they kept a third clean sheet of the campaign and hit the woodwork on three occasions in an affair that saw winger Nicolas Pepe receive his marching orders.

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United were exciting in their play and were unlucky not to defeat the visitors from North London, but ultimately had to settle for a point that was more than deserved.

Phillips - who returned to the starting line-up after a month-long spell on the sidelines due to a shoulder injury - believes that despite failing to secure all three points, he and his team-mates made a step in the right direction.

"There's always stuff to improve on," Phillips admitted post-match.

"The last few games [Leicester and Palace] have been tough on us. We've created a lot of chances, but they have been tough.

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"I think our main point was to come out and not concede and we did that. We'd have been happier with a win but a point on the board is good.

"We're an attacking team. We love having the ball. A lot of teams play the counter-attack against us.

"I think when their man [Pepe] got sent off it tipped it in our favour. We still couldn't get that decisive goal and you look back at the chances we had. We're just lucky we kept a clean sheet.

"We're bringing big teams here and performing well. If we can continue doing that over the remainder of the season, we'll be very happy."

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Asked about his return following the injury picked up against Wolves last month, he smiled: "I'm obviously still a bit rusty, as you could see with some of the passes I was playing!

"I'm just happy to be back out there and contribute to get the clean sheet."

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