Phillips was unable to force his way into Kevin Keegan's England side, but, Ian Allinson, the man who was mainly responsible for his development as a player believes the time is now right.

Allinson was manager of Baldock Town when Phillips was released by Southampton and made the decision to turn him from a full-back into one of the most prolific strikers in the land. Now he believes Phillips must be given his chance at the top level.

"Everbody has been given a chance but Kevin," he said.

"The one thing he has done throughout his career is stick the ball in the back of the net.

"He had a slow start to this season after missing some of the pre-season. But in the last four weeks he's really got back into top form and he's only four goals behind the top scorer in the country.

"Every centre-forward relies on service. Alan Shearer in the last couple of years never really got the service he needed for England.

"But if you give Kevin the right service he will score at any level. People forget that Kevin is very, very good in the air - and he is excellent with the ball into feet around the box.

"If you can get the ball into the box for him he'll score goals. Gary Lineker never really joined in much outside the box - but once the ball was in the box he was on it."