Despite fighting for their Premier League lives, Eddie Howe’s side made life more than difficult for Pep Guardiola’s men in what was a hard-fought victory.
Though City roared into a 2-0 first half lead, the Cherries narrowed the deficit late in the second half and made it a nervous last 10 minutes.
For Stones though, making his second full appearance since the resumption of action after lockdown, it was another impressive 90 minutes.
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And with key matches to come against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final and Real Madrid in the Champions League, Stones said he was happy to be in the selection mix after a season afflicted by a number of injuries.
“It has been a frustrating season for me personally with injuries reoccurring and then I got injured a few days in after we returned from lockdown,” Stones reflected.
“So it’s been frustrating. I’ve tried to stay positive and be ready when called upon and I feel I have been.
“Coming back after lockdown and now getting fit (we’ve) played against some tough opponents. I feel ready to fight - we’ve got the FA Cup at the weekend, the Champions League and a few more league games - it’s about staying fit and healthy and I feel I’m on the right track.
“It’s good to be in that consistency of playing and keeping my fitness
“For me, it’s very simple, the manager what he asks of us is to keep training hard every day.
“As you’ve seen over past few weeks, we’ve changed the team basically every other match and that’s why everyone is so key and I think that’s why we’ve been so successful as well.”
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The only negative on the night for Stones was the goal conceded towards the end of the game – our first at home since the resumption of action.
“The goal was frustrating as we’ve set such good standards over the season and worked so hard over the past few weeks following our defeat at Southampton,” Stones reflected.
“We came off the back of it with two really good victories and we tried to a clean sheet.”
“But overall I’m really pleased with how everyone defended.”
