Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips has rubbished claims of a rift with manager Marcelo Bielsa.

Phillips last played in a 2-2 draw with Brentford on December 5. In the days before that game he denied suggestions of a fallout with Bielsa, who substituted him at half-time during a goalless draw at Brighton last month.

Phillips has previously credited Bielsa with his spectacular ascent from the Championship to the final of the European Championship, and he told the Daily Mail: "Me and Marcelo get on well. He doesn't accept anything less than 100 per cent. Sometimes he thinks I'm giving that and sometimes he doesn't. I respect that. That makes me go home and think about ways I can get better.

"Last month there was a stage when I wasn't playing great. I was subbed off at half-time at Brighton. I wasn't happy but I knew why he had done it. If I didn't then he was always going to tell me.

"For people to say we'd had a bust-up, it's nonsense. The manager is someone you don't want to get on the wrong side of and I don't want to let him down. I want to do the best I can for him because he's given me so much."

Did Phillips agree with Bielsa in that he was not giving enough last month?

"Sometimes there may be a language barrier (with Bielsa) but I always try to give 100 per cent," he says. "There will be some games during a season when I'm not playing well or not feeling great physically but as soon as I'm on the pitch I try to do the best I possibly can.

"If I'm not playing well then fair enough, I'd happily take it on the chin if the manager says that. When I am playing well, the manager doesn't really tell you how well you're doing. He just wants you to get better."