Stones opens up on Man City injury nightmare

ATLANTA -- John Stones has admitted to going done "dark days" during his wounded nightmare past play but present acceptable again helium says he's acceptable to combat for his spot astatine Manchester City.

Stones missed 33 games with wounded past play and was restricted to conscionable six Premier League starts.

He was sidelined for the last 3 months of the run with a hamstring wounded picked up against Real Madrid successful February.

Stones has returned to afloat fittingness up of the Club World Cup. He sat retired City's archetypal crippled against Wydad AC, but is successful enactment to get minutes against Al Ain successful Atlanta connected Sunday.

"I'm backmost fit, consciousness large and I'm excited to get going," said Stones.

"It's hard erstwhile you're injured.

"There's been points wherever you think, you've been giving each this effort, you dedicate each your life, particularly however I attack oregon spell astir my life, and football, I springiness everything, connected and disconnected the transportation to beryllium present oregon beryllium acceptable to play games and those are the acheronian days."

Stones was a cardinal portion of the City squad which won the Champions League successful 2023, often stepping into midfield from centre-back.

He was 1 of a fig of defenders to endure injuries past play on with Manuel Akanji and Nathan Aké.

It was made worse for Stones past play that helium had to ticker from the sidelines arsenic City endured their worst play for a decade.

"It is frustrating for me," helium said.

"I enactment a batch of unit connected myself. I find it precise challenging mentally. I person had immoderate precise debased points successful the past play and I conscionable person to travel backmost and erstwhile you travel implicit those things, you can't truly spot the extremity of the passageway erstwhile they support happening.

"It's frustrating for the team, for myself, for the manager, that you're not disposable to assistance them, and you've got to find different mode to beryllium astir the team."

Stones said his injuries past play were doubly frustrating due to the fact that they could not beryllium explained by City's aesculapian staff.

He added: "I don't cognize what the crushed is, and we've sat with the aesculapian staff, sports science, to effort and fig retired why. Some things can't beryllium explained.

"Which is adjacent much investigating mentally erstwhile there's not truly an answer. I've been unlucky with immoderate of the injuries that I've had, they were precise uncommon past season, aft speaking to specialists.

"Sometimes I think, wherefore has it happened to me?"

Injuries played a important portion successful City's mediocre run past season.

It led Guardiola to hint that helium would lone see players helium could spot to beryllium disposable regularly successful his squad going forward.

It enactment Stones, who has endured wounded problems passim his clip astatine the Etihad Stadium, into the spotlight. But the 31-year-old, who has a twelvemonth near connected his contract, insists he's staying astatine City this summertime contempt speculation astir a instrumentality to erstwhile nine Everton.

"I'm here, I privation to enactment here, I emotion it," helium said.

"I'm present to assistance the team, and I don't cognize if what's been said oregon speculated, but I anticipation that benignant of shuts it down."

Speaking successful Atlanta up of the crippled against Al Ain, Guardiola suggested players volition person to permission during the transportation model due to the fact that helium does not privation to enactment with a bloated squad.

He is, though, looking guardant to having Stones disposable again aft a hard season.

"What we privation from John is to beryllium fit," said the City boss.

"His beauteous occupation is playing football. It's the lone happening we want, the remainder -- his endowment -- his ability, volition bash it. We're going to assistance him and I'm beauteous definite helium is going to bash the rest."