Kalvin Phillips says he joined Manchester City with his eyes wide open.

The former Leeds United midfielder battled for consistency in his first season with City.

He recalled to the Daily Mail: "I basically knew. I knew I wasn't going to walk into a Man City team, a Pep Guardiola team, and say: 'Right, I'm here'. I've come from Leeds, a team that just escaped relegation.

"It doesn't work like that, especially in Pep teams. He's always rotating – other than Rodri, who played every game!

"You know what it was as well? Just the pressure the club was under. Arsenal had an incredible start, we had to catch up.

"We were playing every few days so didn't have much time to train. It's hard to put yourself in the manager's thoughts. You're only training for 45 minutes because the lads are so tired.

"What I didn't realise was how hard it was going to be in pre-season. It's all ball work really, but it's all short and sharp. When I was at Leeds with Bielsa, we were running around the track. I was getting used to that because we'd been doing it for two years. I came here and it's all short, sharp and tight spaces. The technical ability of every single player here is unbelievable.

"I was really nervous. I thought maybe it'll be a little bit cliquey but it's never been the case. There is not one person in that dressing room with an ego that makes him think he's better than everyone else."