Sunday, June 18, 2023
The Lowry Hotel, Salford
7:30 AM
The alarm went at seven-thirty and Demien's eyes opened before the sound finished its first cycle, and Phillips was already in the bathroom with the tap running and the electric toothbrush humming against the tile while light came through the gap in the curtains showing Manchester's morning grey.
He swung his legs off the bed and sat on the edge for a moment while his body ran through its mental checklist—legs good, back fine, shoulders loose, no tightness anywhere—and the recovery pool yesterday had done its work because match day minus one always started with the question of whether the previous game left anything behind.
