Ashley Phillips delivering performances for Plymouth that defy his age ahead of Tottenham return

Ashley Phillips will be back in a familiar setting on Saturday afternoon as he makes the trip to Ewood Park with Plymouth Argyle. Having come through the system at Blackburn Rovers to make 14 appearances for the Lancashire side, the 18-year-old will face his former club for the first time on Saturday.

Making quite the impression for the Championship side last term, Tottenham moved quickly last summer to snap up the England Under-19 international as Ange Postecoglou and the club planned for the future. Yet to make his senior bow for Tottenham but quite clearly catching the head coach's eye in training at Hotspur Way, the Salford-born centre-back was included in the Spurs matchday squad seven times in the first part of the season.

Needing to get regular minutes in the tank and with Tottenham always going to add to their defensive options in the winter market to provide cover for Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, Phillips sealed a loan move to Plymouth Argyle in early January. Joining forces with head coach Ian Foster who he knows from the England youth setup, the agreement between both clubs has proved to be a big success for all parties so far with the centre-back thriving in England's second tier.

Making such an impression on his Argyle debut away at Huddersfield Town, Phillips has gained some valuable experience coming up against some of the Championship's best sides in Leeds United, Ipswich Town, Coventry City and West Brom in recent weeks. That is only going to bode well for both the player and Tottenham in the not too distant future.

Given his excellent start to life at Home Park, football.london spoke to Chris Errington, Plymouth Argyle reporter for Plymouth Live, to find out how exactly Phillips is getting on in