From rocky to defensive rock, City star John now back to his brilliant best

ENGLAND’S best centre-half was playing at Old Trafford on Wednesday night... and Harry Maguire also featured.

No disrespect to a character shaping up to be a fine Manchester United captain, but John Stones has been the most talented central defender in the English game for some time.

There has been one problem, though. He has had what seems like a habit of making mistakes.

Not ideal.

And it has felt like every mistake Stones has made has been punished. In full.

Having helped his team to this season’s Carabao Cup final, Stones might recall last year’s edition on March 1 when his slip led to a beauty from Mbwana Samatta that gave Aston

Villa some hope for long periods of their 2-1 defeat.

The Tanzania striker failed to score again for Villa and is now out on loan at Fenerbahce.

When Stones gave away possession in extra-time of a Nations League semi-final game against Holland in

2019, it took a sequence of slightly freakish subsequent events, but you knew it was going to end up costing England a goal.

So it did and Gareth Southgate’s faith, which had been strong enough to have Stones playing a crucial part in the World

Cup 2018 finals campaign in Russia, finally seemed to wane. It should be returning any time soon. If Southgate plays a back three or back four, he has a variety of options when it comes to centrally inclined defenders.

Maguire, Conor Coady, Tyrone Mings, Michael Keane, Eric Dier, Joe Gomez and, of course, the England manager likes to use Kyle Walker on the right of a trio.

Of those seven defenders, only one – the currently injured Gomez – is younger than 26-year-old Stones.

There is still more ahead of Stones than there is behind him.

And, considering he has two League Cup, one FA Cup and two Premier League winners’ medals in his locker, that is encouraging. And don’t forget, Stones more than played his part in those Premier League successes.

The goal- line clearance against Liverpool in the 2018/19 campaign, anyone?

There is no doubt he lost his way, but being a centre-half – or being any type of defender for Pep Guardiola – is no easy job.

In the sense that you don’t normally have to do much of it, defending can be easy.

But assistance and protection for Stones and his fellow defenders has never been in great supply.

I remember a game away at Leicester City four years ago when Guardiola essentially played a 1-0-9 formation with the hapless Stones as the one.

In a 4-2 win, the Foxes were four up in less than 80 minutes and Jamie Vardy and company had run riot against Stones.

Yet, look at City right now and Guardiola’s slightly more pragmatic approach on occasions.

In 25 games across all competitions this campaign, City have conceded only 16 goals – and five of them were in one rather flukey loss to Leicester City.

Pep’s back four for that match?

Walker, Garcia, Ake, Mendy.

In back- to- back away games against top- notch opposition this past week, Guardiola has fielded an unchanged back four of Cancelo, Stones, Dias, Zinchenko.

Limited evidence, sure, but the Stones- Dias partnership smacks of the solidity on which titles can be won.

They are no Vidic-Ferdinand or Terry-Carvalho yet, but you never know.

There are simply too many games for it to be used in every match, but one thing is for sure.

Stones is back on track – a track that should take him, maybe belatedly, to the very top of the world game.

And for Southgate, England and Manchester City, that can only be good news.