England defender John Stones has returned to Manchester City after picking up an injury on international duty. Stones pulled out during the warm-up of their friendly against Switzerland but trained with the squad on Monday. He will now return to the club before their last friendly against Ivory Coast. He was given the thumbs up after the scan but he believes that something did not feel right. Maguire could replace Stones in the lineup.
“He has got us to a World Cup semi-final and a European Championship final so there’s no doubt he’s more than capable of playing at the highest level,” England boss Gareth Southgate said about John Stones. “He was very good for us in the autumn. The club [Manchester United] is in a difficult moment – there could be any number of reasons for that – so that doesn’t mean that players can be poor for a couple of years and then still find their way in, and sometimes it depends on the competition for positions. We’ve obviously had some forward players out who haven’t been in good form but there are direct, experienced replacements for those players, so it is a complicated decision.”
Also, Read Gareth Southgate Defends Harry Maguire’s Selection For England
