England take on Bosnia in a friendly match on Monday night – and manager Gareth Southgate has explained why Manchester City star John Stones will not be featuring.
With club football now done with, attention now turns to international tournaments – and Euro 2024 is just a couple of weeks away.
England have a couple of games in preparation for the finals out in Germany, and it’s Bosnia up first on Monday night, followed by Iceland on Friday.
The games are a chance for Southgate to try some things, and make decisions on who to cut from his 33-man squad ahead of the tournament.
One man not in danger of being cut is John Stones – but he will not be in action against Bosnia…
Gareth Southgate says John Stones is on an individual program and will miss Bosnia game
City finished their season last weekend, losing the FA Cup final to Manchester United.
As a result of finishing later than other clubs, the City and United players were given permission to join up with the England squad later.
Despite this, Stones and Jack Grealish both joined up with their Three Lions teammates early.
Stones, who started the FA Cup final against United alongside Nathan Ake, will not be playing any part for England against Bosnia on Monday night at Wembley Stadium.
Southgate told reporters (via Sky Sports): “None of them will be involved tomorrow. Same tomorrow for Bukayo and probably the same tomorrow for John Stones.
“Everybody else will be involved.
“John (won’t play), because he reported a bit later. So he hasn’t worked with us for a number of days, so it’s better for him to follow an individual program for the next couple of days.
A big summer for Stones
There is a lot of expectation from England fans this summer, with many feeling this could be England’s time.
The Three Lions have gone close at recent tournaments, but one cannot deny how much talent there is in the squad right now and Southgate’s side are rightly among the favourites to triumph out in Germany.
£50 million signing Stones has had a bit of a frustrating season with City.
Injuries again played a part for him, as he was limited to just 28 appearances out of a possible 58.
When fit he is a Rolls-Royce of a player and hopefully the injury curse will not strike while he is on England duty this summer. It is paramount he stays fit, as he is fantastic at splitting the lines and finding the danger men.