England manager Southgate sweating over defender John Stones’s fitness

Manchester City defender John Stones is the most experienced center-back on the Three Lions roster after Harry Maguire was left out of the final 26-man squad. Stones was brought down by Iceland’s Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson just under two minutes and required medical attention before coming off just before the half-time whistle.

He was replaced by Aston Villa‘s Ezri Konsa after Stones showed little signs of discomfort in the first half of the tie. Stones is the most experienced defender in the England setup and there is some obvious concern amongst fans. But Gareth Southgate has allayed fears over a serious injury to the Manchester City defender and his substitution was nothing but a precautionary measure.

“We think he is probably OK, but we didn’t want to take a chance with that given what’s coming up,” he told Channel 4.

For England, Stones will be the leader at the heart of defense as he’s far more experienced than his compatriots Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa and Lewis Dunk. The Three Lions cannot suffer another injury setback after losing their most experienced defender Harry Maguire to an injury.

Stones has struggled for game time in the final weeks of the Premier League season, with the Manchester City defender managing just 21 minutes in the last seven league matches.

England will kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia on 16 June, followed by clashes with Denmark and Slovenia.

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