Leeds United's Kalvin Phillips could come to aid of England pal Jack Grealish by winning Gareth Southgate battle

In the past, Leeds fans haven’t exactly taken to the attacking midfielder who is so adept and so prolific at winning free-kicks, but Phillips is their golden boy who can do no wrong and if someone is all right by the Yorkshire Pirlo ...

There are things that come easily to Phillips and making friends is one of them.

Luke Ayling likes Phillips because he’s always laughing, always smiling. Phillips formed so close a friendship with Ben White early on in the defender’s loan stint at Elland Road last season that some Leeds fans hoped it would be enough to draw White to the club permanently.

A ready smile and an unassuming, laid-back nature make him likeable. People are drawn to him, off the pitch and on it, where he finds it easy to make and locate space.

He moves in ways that drag opposition attackers around the Leeds half of the pitch so Marcelo Bielsa’s team can play out into the room their central defensive midfielder has created.

He works to free himself from markers to give his keeper or defenders an option and, when he gets the ball, he puts it in areas of space for team-mates to run on to.

It looked like hard work against Manchester City, for a while, but most of the time, at least since Bielsa arrived, Phillips makes football look easy.

His comfort in receiving the ball deep in his own half and his efficiency in what he does with it, along with a nice knack of legally crunching opponents or easing them off the ball, have elevated him from a proven Championship player to a fledgling Premier League and England midfielder.

Like his pal Grealish, he enjoys the fulsome trust of his club manager and will get the chance to prove he can do it, regularly, in the English top flight.

But also like Grealish, he has a battle on his hands to earn the full trust of Gareth Southgate and, with it, a starting place in the England midfield.

Phillips, unlike one or two English midfielders from a previous era, brings no sense of entitlement to the national set-up. He doesn’t expect to walk into the side.

“It’s going to be a battle to play for England,” he said.

“To be honest, I didn’t think I’d be here; if you’d told me a year ago I wouldn’t even have thought I would.

“There’s a lot of people want to play for England. It’s healthy for all of us, everyone in the squad, my position or not.

“We’ve got great players in my role and all I can do is do my best in training and in games and at club level as well and, hopefully, that’s enough for me to play games.

“I think I’ve started reasonably well and, hopefully, I can keep that up.”

Phillips has indeed started reasonably well. Against Denmark on his debut, he took time to get going, along with Declan Rice, in Southgate’s words.

But the pair were playing as twin defensive midfielders and there was only so much work to go around.

Against Wales, this time alongside Harry Winks, Phillips was far more involved.

He retained the ball brilliantly, completing 60 of his 64 passes and defended well, even if he had to resort to fouling Leeds team-mate and friend Tyler Roberts to halt a Welsh attack.

The passes he made were all very simple, however. Or maybe he just made it look easy. Either way, the role Southgate is giving him is not as adventurous as the one he enjoys at Elland Road.

His challenge is to prove to the England manager that he doesn’t need his hand holding in front of the backline and maybe that, in turn, will do Grealish a favour by freeing a space for a more forward-thinker.

The Villa man is exactly that. He’s exciting to watch when he roams around as a free spirit and gives England a menacing look in possession.

Even if Phillips and Grealish get the nod to face Denmark tonight, the war for Southgate’s affections will be far from won.

And then two of the country’s most promising young guns will go head to head when Leeds battle Villa next week. Friendly fire is guaranteed.