Kevin Phillips recalls heat of play-off derby for West Brom

The lethal striker played 660 times during his 20-year career and scored almost 300 goals, but he can still recall the atmosphere of those hotly-contested games against Wolves.

“Before that I’d played in Southampton v Portsmouth, Sunderland v Newcastle, Watford v Luton, I knew what derbies were all about,” Phillips reminisced this week.

“When I moved to West Brom, people started talking about Wolves, I couldn’t wait to be a part of it.

“We sampled it during the season but to draw them in the play-offs, the two biggest games of anyone’s season, it was quite ironic.

“The atmosphere was incredible at both games.

“I was delighted we were playing away first. Having played in a lot of play-offs, it’s great to be home for the second leg.

“People say it doesn’t matter but as a player you certainly want the second leg in front of the home fans, you know what you’ve got to do.

“Whether you need to score or hang onto a lead, your game management becomes a bit different. As a player, deep down, it helps.

“I managed to get a nice header at the back stick to take us through.”

Albion are guaranteed to play their second leg at The Hawthorns this season, and it is highly likely they will be facing their other local rivals, Villa.

“I think it will be very tight,” said Phillips. “Jimmy Shan has come in and steadied the ship, credit to him.

“Dean Smith has done a wonderful job after a sticky spell himself. History suggests the team that makes that late run are the team that goes on and wins it and they’ll learn from last year, when they lost in the final.

“But they’ve got to get through a tricky tie with West Brom. I find it very hard to call, it will go down to the odd goal. The second leg could be crucial.”

Back in 2007, Phillips enjoyed a lethal strike partnership with Diomansy Kamara, and following the play-offs, each of them finished the season with more than 20 goals.

This time around, the Baggies have Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez.

“Kamara was great at running at people, he had an aggression about him,” said Phillips. “I was more of a fox in the box. Rodriguez is like Kamara, Gayle is like myself. There are similarities there.

“There’s certainly going to be goals in the tie, because Villa have got the likes of Jack Grealish, John McGinn, Tammy Abraham and Jonathan Kodjia.”

Albion’s play-off journey didn’t finish successfully that season, with heartache at Wembley at the hands of Derby County following the elation of beating their local rivals.

“Wembley isn’t the place for losers,” said Phillips. “I’ve experienced three play-off final defeats and one win.

“I’ve sat back and watched that game again recently. We dominated the game, the first 20 minutes it was a barrage of possession and chances, we deserved to win the game.”

So his memories of that play-off campaign are tinged with regret, but many Baggies still remember Phillips for those three goals in the semi-final.

“People still remind me of that today,” said Phillips.

“But ultimately being the professional you are it didn’t count for anything in the end because we didn’t get over the finishing line.

“On a personal level, I was delighted to score against our rivals but disappointed not to go up.

“Next season we romped it though, so you might say we weren’t ready to go up that season.”