Coventry City have been tipped to move for Crystal Palace midfielder Killian Phillips, who spent the last six months at Shrewsbury

Coventry City have been credited with an interest in Crystal Palace midfielder Killian Phillips after his excellent loan spell at Shrewsbury Town this past season – but they will apparently face stern competition from Stoke City and Luton Town in the summer transfer window.

Phillips only joined the Shrews in January from Premier League Palace, and he broke into Steve Cotterill’s starting line-up almost immediately, making a big impact in League One as Salop enjoyed an excellent January.

The 21-year-old completed the move to Selhurst Park from Irish club Drogheda in January 2022, on a two-year contract, so Phillips will head into the new season with it being his last contracted to the Eagles, but the Sun claim that he is a wanted man again after his Shrewsbury stint.

They report that City, who are contemplating another year in the Championship after their gutting Championship play-off final defeat to Luton on Saturday, are interested in borrowing the midfielder from Palace – they have a largely excellent record of handling Premier League loanees previously, including Callum Doyle and Brooke Norton-Cuffy this year.

Luton too are mentioned as potential suitors, but it’s Stoke who appear to be most keen – they’re looking to complete a permanent deal for Phillips, rather than another loan deal, with Alex Neil reportedly impressed by what he’s seen of the youngster in the third tier this season.

Phillips, who is Irish but was born in the USA, can also operate as a centre half and made over 30 senior appearances for Drogheda after making his debut a little over two years ago, before he made the switch across the water to Palace.

Angry Sky Blues fans complain of train chaos

Angry Coventry City supporters have described returning by train from Wembley on Saturday night as “unsafe” due to overcrowding.

Late on Friday Chiltern Railways advised passengers to seek alternative transport after ticket sales exceeded capacity.

Fans attempting to travel back to the West Midlands described packed services and several hours of delays.

Rail operators have apologised for the disruption.

Rob O’Malley, from Shipston on Stour said trying to get home after seeing his team lose the Championship play-off final was a “shambles”.

He travelled to Wembley from Banbury with Chiltern despite the operator’s earlier advisory.

“That message came out late 11, 12 o’clock on Friday evening, by which stage we had no option of doing anything else but to catch that train,” he said.

On his return journey from Wembley Stadium he was confused to see signs stating no trains were running back towards Warwick, and described a lack of stewards as a “safety concern”.

“[Chiltern] should have put on more trains or a bus replacement services or at least had proper communication and proper organisation, but they had nothing,” he added.

He eventually got on a train to Bicester and then a “very expensive” taxi home.

Earlier in the day Chiltern Railways said there was a “high risk” ticket holders would be unable to return after the match.

The operator agreed its tickets would be accepted on West Midlands Trains and Avanti services running from London Euston.

BBC reporter Katie Stafford said her Avanti service from Euston to Coventry was “carnage”.

“There were no ticket checks,” she said. “It was literally cheek-to-cheek with the person next to you before we even left Euston.”

She described children crying, squashed and more fans piling on at Watford Junction.

“It was just so unsafe. You could barely breathe,” she said. She got off at Milton Keynes and paid for an Uber home.

Chiltern Trains said compensation was available to those who had chosen not to travel due to expected crowding levels.

In a statement, Avanti West Coast apologised to fans returning to Coventry and said those delayed longer than 15 minutes could claim compensation.

“Our main priority, working with other operators, was to get all the fans home. However, we acknowledge the travelling experience fell well short of what our customers should expect,” a spokesperson said.

The operator pointed out services were busy because the game had finished late, and that it had provided an additional service, seating 600 extra fans.

A London Northwestern Railway spokesperson also apologised for cancellations to trains running between Birmingham and Euston, caused by a signalling fault on the line. The operator added British Transport Police were present on services.