England and Manchester City defender, John Stones has resumed team training after being out since last month’s UEFA Nations League game against Germany.
The 28-year-old suffered a hamstring injury in that game and has missed Man City’s last five matches in all competitions. Prior to the injury, Stones had featured 7 times across all competitions.
The defender was pictured out on the training field on Thursday bringing good news to the club. “John has been training has been training the last two days with us. Tomorrow [he will be] on the list,” said Guardiola during his pre-match press conference on Friday. It is not completely clear whether John Stones will be available for selection for the game against Brighton.
John Stones’ availability could mean that Man City have 5 fully fit senior center-backs, making the competition for starting spots even more interesting considering Pep Guardiola’s recent habit of changing his starters according to the game being played. His return to the starting XI will not be rushed and he would probably come off the bench in the next few games to build his match fitness.
This news is equally good for Gareth Southgate and England who have been struck with injuries to some regulars including Stones’ teammates at City, Kyle Walker and Kalvin Philips. Aside from these two, Reece James faces a very tight race against time to be fit for the World Cup after suffering a knee injury close to two weeks ago. With about 7 games to play between now and the World Cup break, Stones will have enough time to build his match fitness and hope that he doesn’t suffer any setbacks in order to make the plane to Qatar.
