ATLANTA — John Stones has admitted to going via “darkish days” throughout his harm nightmare final season however now match once more he says he is able to struggle for his place at Manchester Metropolis.
Stones missed 33 video games with harm final season and was restricted to simply six Premier League begins.
He was sidelined for the ultimate three months of the marketing campaign with a hamstring harm picked up in opposition to Actual Madrid in February.
Stones has returned to full health forward of the Membership World Cup. He sat out Metropolis’s first sport in opposition to Moroccan facet Wydad AC, however is in line to get minutes in opposition to Emirati membership Al Ain in Atlanta on Sunday.
“I am again match, really feel nice and I am excited to get going,” Stones mentioned.
“It is troublesome while you’re injured.
“There’s been factors the place you suppose, you have been giving all this effort, you dedicate all of your life, particularly how I method or go about my life, and soccer, I give all the things, on and off the pitch to be right here or be able to play video games and people are the darkish days.”
Stones was a key a part of the Metropolis staff which received the Champions League in 2023, typically getting into midfield from centre-back.
He was considered one of plenty of Metropolis defenders to undergo accidents final season together with Manuel Akanji and Nathan Aké.
It was made worse for Stones final season that he needed to watch from the sidelines as Metropolis endured their worst season for a decade.
“It’s irritating for me,” he mentioned.
“I put loads of strain on myself. I discover it very difficult mentally. I’ve had some very low factors up to now season and I simply have to return again and when you come over these issues, you’ll be able to’t actually see the top of the tunnel once they maintain taking place.
“It is irritating for the staff, for myself, for the supervisor, that you simply’re not obtainable to assist them, and you have to discover one other approach to be across the staff.”
Stones mentioned his accidents final season have been doubly irritating as a result of they might not be defined by Metropolis’s medical workers.
He added: “I do not know what the reason being, and we have sat with the medical workers, sports activities science, to attempt to work out why. Some issues cannot be defined.
“Which is much more testing mentally when there’s probably not a solution. I have been unfortunate with among the accidents that I’ve had, they have been very uncommon final season, after chatting with specialists.
“Typically I feel, why has it occurred to me?”
Accidents performed a major half in Metropolis’s poor marketing campaign final season.
It led Guardiola to trace that he would solely embody gamers he may belief to be obtainable recurrently in his squad going ahead.
It put Stones, who has endured harm issues all through his time on the Etihad Stadium, into the highlight. However the 31-year-old, who has a 12 months left on his contract, insists he’s staying at Metropolis this summer time regardless of hypothesis a couple of return to former membership Everton.
“I am right here, I wish to keep right here, I find it irresistible,” he mentioned.
“I am right here to assist the staff, and I do not know if what’s been mentioned or speculated, however I hope that sort of shuts it down.”
Talking in Atlanta forward of the sport in opposition to Al Ain, Guardiola urged gamers must depart in the course of the switch window as a result of he doesn’t wish to work with a bloated squad.
He’s, although, wanting ahead to having Stones obtainable once more after a troublesome season.
“What we would like from John is to be match,” mentioned the Metropolis boss.
“His pretty job is enjoying soccer. It is the one factor we would like, the remaining — his expertise — his potential, will do it. We will assist him and I am fairly certain he’s going to do the remaining.”
