Having joined the Club in the summer of 2016, the England central defender has proved instrumental in our subsequent phenomenal record of achievement under the leadership of Pep Guardiola.
The 28-year-old has again been in fine form for the Club this season and caught the eye once more in our 1-1 draw with Everton on New Year’s Eve.
Though that result left us seven points behind leaders Arsenal going into 2023, Stones says City will once again look to the mentality that has helped underpin our remarkable recent record of success as we enter a pivotal period of the campaign.
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“Definitely every game is a must win now,” Stones acknowledged as he looked ahead to Thursday’s Premier League trip to Chelsea.
“I think that’s been the same mentality for the seven years that I’ve been here.
“As I said before, I’m a big believer in affecting what you can affect and as a team.
“We can’t affect what Arsenal do so that’s down to them.
“We focus very much on ourselves and don’t listen to too much or concentrate on too much on what’s going on - on the outside.”
Stones also further reflected on Saturday’s draw and said despite the frustration at the result, there were numerous positives for City to take comfort from.
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Not least in the way that Guardiola’s side kept pressing right into the 12th minute of injury time when Rodrigo came agonisingly close to forcing home a dramatic winner.
“I’m a big believer that we can only affect what we can and I was very emotional after the game,” Stones revealed.
“They tried to frustrate the game definitely. I think we coped with that really well and kept going right until the end.
“I didn’t really know what my thoughts were about the game and after speaking with a few people - definitely frustrated for one and I think everyone feels like that.
“But we have to look at the positives in how we kept going and some of the football we played and the chances we created right until the end.”
