STONES RELISHING HIS CENTRAL ROLE AS NEW LOOK CITY FOCUS ON DEFENCE

JOHN STONES says he is relishing being a key part of the new Manchester City – where the defenders are the star performers for once.

Clean sheets, digging deep and grinding out results are not phrases normally associated with Pep Guardiola’s sides.

But Stones insists keeping a tight ship at the back is delighting their manager in a season in which they have found goals harder to come by.

He said: “We cannot underestimate how well we do when we get these results when everyone else wants us to score three or four goals every game.

“It is not football and real life when we play like that.

“Sometimes we have to grind results out and dig deep as a team and I feel like we have that inside us which is a great mentality for a winning side. I feel like we are doing that and a prime example was the game against Southampton where it was 1-0 and both teams played exceptionally well.

“We kept another clean sheet and moved in the right direction against a team that was third in the table.”

The former Everton man will return to Goodison today in the form of his City career after a long spell in the doldrums.

And his growing partnership with Ruben Dias – which is keeping Aymeric Laporte on the sidelines – is enabling City to move up the table after a slow start.

Stones (right) says City must be wary of an Everton side enjoying a similar resurgence under Carlo Ancelotti. “They have hit the ground running really fast,” he said. “They are a great team and the new manager has put his stamp on the team. They are making great progress.”

Stones has come full circle with Guardiola having looked to be on his way out of the club last year. He has started five of the last six games. “Pep demands a lot from you personally and as a team,” said Stones. “But being back in the team makes you realise how hard you have worked and that the hard work is paying off. It makes you realise how special it is to be out on the pitch.”