Stevenage have completed a deal to sign free agent and former West Bromwich Albion attacker Matt Phillips.
He was left without a club following his departure from Oxford United on deadline day, terminating his contract by mutual consent at the U’s.
And Phillips has dropped into League One with the Boro, signing a deal until the end of the current campaign.
Stevenage host Huddersfield Town in the lunchtime kick-off today, with Phillips going straight into their side in a pivotal battle at the top end of the third tier.
Most recently with Oxford, Phillips hasn’t played third-tier football since a prolific loan spell at Sheffield United in 2011, scoring six times in seven appearances. After beginning his career with Wycombe Wanderers, he also represented the Chairboys at this level after winning promotion from League Two. Since then, the 34-year-old has been a regular in the top two divisions of English football.
He played in Blackpool’s solitary Premier League campaign at the start of the last decade, before top-flight stints at Queens Park Rangers and West Bromwich Albion. In eight seasons with the Baggies, Phillips scored and assisted 31 times in 255 matches. He arrives in Hertfordshire with over 450 appearances throughout his career and should bolster Boro’s attack.
That’s an area they have struggled in all season, scoring the third-fewest goals in the division. Jamie Reid is their current top goalscorer with nine, but no other player has scored more than four times this term.
Late Interest In Stevenage Players
Phillips shares a last name with midfielder Dan, but that almost wasn’t the case following the January transfer window. Blackburn Rovers were one of the clubs touted as a destination for him, but Stevenage stood firm. Alan Nixon reported that a £1m fee would be required to sign the Trinidad and Tobago international. It’s safe to assume that any potential move to East Lancashire would be dependent on which division Rovers are in next season, as they battle to avoid relegation from the Championship. And there is still an outside chance that Boro themselves win promotion to the second tier.
Harvey White was also subject to a deadline day bid from Luton Town. It was revealed earlier this week by Neil Metcalfe that the 24-year-old, who is out of contract in the summer, was wanted by their Play-Off rivals. But Boro were not prepared to sell, with the offer from the Hatters well below their valuation of White. Instead, he will make his 100th appearance for the club against the Terriers today.
That game is a big one for both sides, with Stevenage still in the fight for one of the places in the top six. That’s a position that Huddersfield currently occupy, though they have played two more games than today’s opponents. The gap currently stands at seven points, although Boro have lost consecutive matches. On Tuesday evening, they were unable to close the deficit, as their match with Barnsley was called off. Liam Manning remains unbeaten in the league with the West Yorkshire outfit, though his side were defeated in midweek on penalties by Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Trophy.