The defender, who is yet to feature this term, will miss Manchester City’s game against Southampton this weekend with a muscle injury he initially picked up whilst representing England in the international break.
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But Guardiola is certain that the 27-year-old can replicate the level of performance which saw him named in the 2020-21 PFA Team of the Year and says it is vital that Stones, along with Aymeric Laporte, returns from injury as quickly as possible.
“Before [the international break] he didn’t play because Aymeric and Ruben [Dias] were fantastic when they came back and because the English players arrived later because of the Euro tournament,” Guardiola explained.
“When John comes back, he will wait for his moment and he will show his quality, like he did last season.
“We want him to be fit, because we need him. We are in big trouble in many departments because we have many injuries and a lot of games so hopefully they can come back as soon as possible.”
The manager was speaking ahead of City’s home game against Southampton, when he also discussed, Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and the captaincy.
You can watch what he he had to say in the video above.
