 Nat Phillips, gweithgwm ar AFC Bournemouth. First things first, how's your cheekbone? Cheekbone's all fine now. It was probably only sore for one week after the collision, but because the bone had broken, they had to give it enough time to heal. That time has passed now and I've not had any issues. Fractured your cheekbone against AC Milan in the Champions League in December? I've got to ask you about that croiff turn in that game as well. Have you been dining out on that over Christmas and can we expect to see you doing that for the cherries? I'll probably say I have been dining out on it. I've had a lot of compliments over it and obviously got quite a bit of attention. So that was nice and I wouldn't say, I can't promise that I'll be doing it for the cherries, but if it's an occasion where it's necessary then I can't rule it out. Tell us about how your move came to the Vitality Stadium? I think interests have been sort of growing throughout the window and it was an option that I was really excited about because of the club's ambition and I've heard a lot of good things about the club. So I'm very happy to be here and I'm looking forward to getting started. Have you got any inside info on the town of Bournemouth, if you like, from anybody you know, any connections? Yeah, a little bit. I know a few people who live here. Adam Llanar, I think he's got a place there, so I'll be knocking on his door soon and some other friends as well, the ex-footballer Kevin Davis, I think he lives down here now. I know three of my family, so I'll be turning to them for advice on where to go. It's been a busy transfer window for Bournemouth at the start and at the end. Have you had a chance to sort of do any research on the club yet? I did actually, I've had a look at the fixtures coming up and some of the past fixtures and had a little skin over the history. But like you say, it has been a busy transfer window and I think that's reflective of the club's aspirations, as a player just excites you. What's been the brief from Liverpool? Is it just to get games? Certainly, I think I've had a period now where I've not seen a great deal of football all minutes and obviously as a player that's what you want to be doing. You want to be playing games, so I'm hoping that coming here I'll get that opportunity to do so and then the club giving me that opportunity hopefully I can repay it with some good performances. Only in December it was, Jurgen Klopp described you as one of the smartest players he has ever worked with. He said he improved in pretty much everything. He's not playing, life is sometimes not fair and I can't blame him. What do you make of that? Smartest players, I'm not sure about that. I've come across a lot of players who are very smart but obviously it's high praise. I would say that I have improved huge amounts during the time that I've been working underneath him and he's a great coach and a great manager and also off the field he's a great person to have behind you. So I'm very fortunate to have benefited from that relationship with him. And it is true, it's difficult when you're not playing. I found it difficult, I think certainly after getting a taste for regular football last year to then go back to not playing as much, it is hard. But I recognise that. I need to go and get some minutes elsewhere and hopefully this is a move that suits all parties. I'm really excited to be here and I'm hoping that the club feel the same. You're going to be obviously working under a different manager for a short period of time in Scott Park. Are you, must be looking forward to working? I'm sure you know quite a lot about him already. Yeah, very much so obviously as I was growing up I saw him play a lot. He was a great footballer and I think he's shown plenty of signs of being a great manager as well where the club's sitting at the moment. I think he's going to have a lot to offer me and coach me. So I'm looking forward to meeting him and getting started. I've got to mention it now. You were on the receiving end of a Scott Park a defeat last season when Fulham 1-1 nill at Anfield as well. So he certainly knows what he's about. Yeah, exactly. No, it is true. I think in the time that he has been managing he's shown a lot of people what he can do. And I think people see him as someone who's got a good future in management. Me being one of them. So I'm really excited to work with him. What about the championship? Do you know much about it? Everybody says it's a relentless division. Yeah, I think so. I think as a division it's intense, physical, relentless. It's a good way to describe it. Lots of games, I would say as well. You've got to be consistently on the top of your game if you want to succeed in this division. I grew up as a bulletin fan, so I watched bulletin in the championship for quite a few seasons and I've seen how difficult it can be along with seeing team mates of mine come here on loan. But also for those reasons it makes it very exciting as well. In a recent Sky interview, Nat, you said that you would be ready straight away to get involved in play. Is that whether it's Bore and Wood or Black Ball, whoever's next? Yeah, exactly. As soon as the manager and the coaches want me to play, I'm ready to step on to the field and get going. I'm just really excited to start playing games again, contribute to the team and do whatever I can for the club. You said you're a bulletin fan growing up. There's a strong bulletin link here with Gary Cahill, another one of the central defenders now. I think your dad Jimmy was on the coaching staff and he was a player at Bolton, so what do you remember of him? I remember Gary probably being one of the first defenders that I really looked up to as a fan and as an aspiring footballer. I think before then there were some good centre backs but I probably didn't understand the game enough to appreciate them whereas at the time Gary was at Bolton I was of an age to really appreciate what he did as a defender and obviously he got a great move to Chelsea and had a wonderful career from there on out and he's someone that obviously with his experience that I can hopefully learn from and turn to for advice and I'm looking forward to working with him. Seeing somebody like him come here in the summer as well just shows you the intent of the club. Yeah exactly, yeah. I think from the calibre of players that are here, the manager all those things show that the club really are serious about pushing for promotion this year and that's what you want to see as players and that's what you want to see as fans so it's an exciting time. You had a fantastic run in the Liverpool team last season that Premier League debut first Premier League, Gold Champions League debut, Man of the Match awards clearly that's given you a taste of what you're looking to continue here. Yeah exactly and I think probably the most important thing that I felt throughout last season was that I saw an improvement in myself as the season went on and as I built up the games so obviously that's something that I'm looking to continue after a period where I've not played a great deal of football I want to get back to playing games again and continue to develop and improve and obviously bring as much as I can to the team and the club. You've been asked before about what you learn from training with defenders like Virgil van Dijk but you also highlighted what you learn from training with the strikers that they've got Liverpool as well. That's why it's true. Everyone really, the standard that training is every day we can week out means that you've got to be on the top of your game every day and when you're tasked with the job of keeping most salary away from goal or stadium money or any of the players then obviously it's tough and you've got to learn the hard way. Four appearances for you this season Papa John's Trophy League Cup and Champions League that's an eclectic mix of competitions. Yeah it is, it is exactly and I think that's just obviously a reflection of the role that I was playing up until now at Liverpool which is down to the high competition at the club and obviously it's difficult to get games when the competition is so high so again I'm excited to be here so that hopefully I can get a better run of games in more minutes. Here we are the end of January the season is going to fly by the next three and a half months what are you hoping to achieve in those three and a half months while you're here? Promotion I think it's that simple really I think the club's got the clear goal I think the players are obviously all players wanting to play in the Premier League and promotion is the way to do that so I think we've all got that clear common goal of achieving promotion and we'll all be doing everything we can to make sure we achieve that.