Pep Guardiola has told John Stones he needs him on the pitch in Wednesday’s crunch Champions League clash with Bruges. The England defender has made only eight starts for Manchester City this season in an injury-hit campaign and not completed 90 minutes since October.
He made just one appearance between mid-November and mid-January due to foot problems but has come off the bench in the last two matches. With fellow centre-backs Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias out and new signing Abdokodir Khusanov ineligible, City boss Guardiola now wants Stones to step up.
City must beat the Belgian side at the Etihad Stadium to avoid elimination from European competition, having slumped to 25th in the league-phase table following a dramatic capitulation at Paris St Germain last week. Guardiola said: “Listen, he has to play – unless he says to me that he promises he (really) cannot play and after that Josko (Gvardiol) will be central defender and I will invent who plays full-back.
“But the reality is he can play, with Josko left-back and Matheus (Nunes), who is getting better each game in terms of speed and concentration (at right-back). It’s massively important, our game on Wednesday.”. The problems continue but John can help us for our 'final' on Wednesday.
City have been hampered by injuries all season, the most significant of which has seen midfield linchpin Rodri ruled out for the majority of the campaign. With veteran right-back Kyle Walker having also left, the club brought forward summer spending plans to sign defenders Khusanov and Vitor Reis, and forward Omar Marmoush this month.
