Kevin Phillips: Players have best chance of recovery

First of all, nobody ever goes in to hurt anyone.

Probably 15 to 20 years ago, when I started out, it may have been a bit different but, nowadays, no-one wants to see a fellow professional get injured.

With a bad one like that, you see the reaction from Salomon Rondon – he knew he could have, possibly, affected James’ career.

And Salomon reacted in the right way.

He showed compassion and he will get applauded for that.

But, mostly, you have to think about the player on the receiving end – he will have a long spell on the sidelines now.

It is very unfortunate, but these things happen.

The positive thing is that the sports science we have these days does give you an excellent chance of coming back, even stronger.

It can really help with your recovery.

The resources clubs have at their disposal now are incredible.

I never saw an injury of that nature during my time as a player.

I have seen injuries which, perhaps, have kept players out for just as long – but not with the intensity and gruesomeness as the one on Saturday. And I hope I never have to.

I was fortunate enough to never have a long spell out and, in football, we are lucky now, in this day and age, that players are able to see the best people in the world as they look to recover – money is not an issue.

Hopefully, James will have the best recovery possible and be back out there before too long.

Albion’s 1-1 draw at Everton rounded off an emotional week for Baggies supporters – and many more fans from all over the country – following the death of Cyrille Regis.

I think it was a fantastic point at Goodison Park, which is a very difficult place to go.

Everton have hit a bit of lull after a great start under Sam Allardyce.

It looked like a good time to go and play them – and fair play to Alan Pardew’s side for getting something.

That should give everyone a big boost, going into training this week ahead of their trip to Liverpool in the FA Cup fourth round.

What they have to do, as professionals, is put the injury incident to one side and concentrate on the result the picked up.

That should really help them moving forward.

Jay Rodriguez got another goal – his third in the last five games.

Hopefully he can score another 10 goals or so between now and the end of the season, to keep the Baggies in the Premier League.

Anyone in and around that relegation zone, they are all trying to find a bit of form – something to build on, to carry you forward.

And Albion have certainly done that. I really feared for them but Alan Pardew is doing a good job at the moment.

It always seems to take a little bit of time for a new manager’s style to get across to the players, and they seem to understand what he wants now.

Alan will be really buoyed by results over the last few weeks.

Meanwhile, Wolves suffered their first home defeat since August – losing 2-0 to Nottingham Forest.

All sorts of things can happen in the Championship, teams feeling a little bit of pressure.

We all wondered how Wolves’ foreign contingent would cope at this time of year and maybe there is a little chink in their armour.

Everyone has been speaking about how they are going to run away with it and, as players, you can get complacent.

It is going to be really interesting to see how they respond over the coming weeks.

I have to say, I did not really see the loss coming.

I think it just shows the division will go right down to the wire – in terms of who is going to win it.

There is still a long way to go. That loss to Forest is a big blow to Wolves, but it gives the teams around them – like us at Derby – a big lift.

They are doing warm weather training in Spain this week, and we are in Dubai.

Finally, Cyrille, of course, played for Albion and Wolves – with a spell at Villa in between.

I only really got to meet him through my agent – they did some work together, and I got to meet the great man a few times.

He is an absolute genuine icon of football – what he portrayed, growing up in an era when it was tough for black players.

It was a pleasure to meet him and it is a sad loss to football, at such a young age too.

It is a big loss and the all of tributes paid over the weekend were well-deserved.