Stones out to repay Southgate

John Stones is thankful to Gareth Southgate for keeping the faith during his difficult end to the season.

Preparations are under way for Sunday’s penultimate Group G match against Panama, with the Manchester City centre-back surely a shoo-in to start in Nizhny Novgorod.

Stones was taken aback by when described as England’s defensive kingpin, yet he has established himself at the heart of the back three and started the Three Lions’ last nine matches.

It is a far cry from life at City. Stones has struggled for game time and missed two months towards the end of the season, yet Southgate’s faith never wavered.

“I spoke to Gareth,” he said. “I got a lot of little injuries and things that weren’t said out in public. That’s why I wasn’t in the squad as much. I wanted to make sure I was right to fight for my spot at City and I never took my spot for granted in the England team. Never will, or ever think like that.

“I knew I had to fight right until the end, even though some people may say different.

“Gareth’s shown a lot of faith in me. I can’t express enough how thankful I am for that.

“Sometimes you’re in difficult spots as players where form’s not right and he’s got a difficult decision to make whether ‘should I play him or not’.

“He knows us well enough by now, our characters, individually they’re all different, it’s down to him.”