Sheffield Steelers skipper refuses to give up on silverware in his last season

The veteran winger doesn't necessarily see it that way, though.

He's a born competitor and won't give up on the quest for the championship until the mathematics tell him otherwise.

However, mixed team form since Christmas has made it highly unlikely that Phillips will enjoy the moment he last savoured in 2016.

Then, with a team featuring the likes of Mathieu Roy, Ben O'Connor, Robert Dowd, Jason Hewitt and Levi Nelson, Sheffield won the league courtesy of a two-point margin over Cardiff Devils.

Belfast Giants now seem favourites to become crowned the 2022-23 champions, they furthered their case with a comprehensive 4-0 shut-out at Sheffield Arena last Saturday.

Phillips acknowledges that the result had made their lives much harder as they had needed those two points to slow the Northern Irish down.

However, the "do-or-die" attitude Sheffield showed the following night in a 4-1 win at second-place Guildford Flames at least gave them some lingering hope.

"We are going to do everything we can until it is physically impossible not to be in the race," said the team captain.

Asked if the reality was that Belfast needed a fall from grace unlike their SSE Arena fans had ever seen before, he replied: "It is sport at the end of the day, you have got to try and concentrate on the games that you can control and see where you end up, we certainly can't be thinking of other things other than picking up two points."

Since January 5, Sheffield have slipped up in 11 of their 21 games, hardly a return that suggests they can realistically compete for the major prize.

More specifically, they have been unsuccessful in four of their last seven.

"Obviously, consistency after Christmas and up to this point hasn't been the best, again sometimes that's sport - there are swings and roundabouts - but we have to concentrate on the next task," said Phillips.

That task arrives on Wednesday night, in the shape of bottom-of-the-league Dundee Stars.

The Scots have won only eight of 46 games in regulation time so far, although one of those was a 2-1 win at Sheffield last October.

All the other games against Steelers have ended in big defeats for Stars.

Martin Latal has scored six times against them so far.