Phillips, 37, will face his former club Sunderland in the Barclays Premier League relegation clash at St Andrew's. He has vowed not to celebrate should he score and plunge the Black Cats closer to the relegation zone after a disastrous run of one point from eight games.
But Phillips' current over-riding emotion is of joy after being brought back to the forefront of Blues boss Alex McLeish's plans at the business end of the season. He has started the last two matches against Bolton - when he scored in a 2-1 win - and Blackburn from which Blues have picked up four points to ease their fears of going down.
Phillips said: "My legs haven't gone, believe you me, and it's nice to have the confidence from the manager of being picked.
"I think the most important thing from my point of view is can I still play at this level because you do start questioning things.
"I think I've proved to myself and a lot of people that I can certainly still play at this level and it's an immense enjoyment."
Source: PA
Source: PA