John Stones reveals how he went from the LOWEST year of his career being overlooked by Pep Guardiola and dropped by England to becoming one of the premier central defenders in Europe

John Stones has revealed how he stripped back his game to go from a Manchester City outcast to one of the premier central defenders in Europe.

Stones, whose emergence as an auxiliary midfielder has reinvented the way Pep Guardiola's side attack, faced the lowest year of his career in 2020 when consistently overlooked and dropping down the pecking order.

The England international saw veteran midfielder Fernandinho and rookie Eric Garcia picked ahead of him in the biggest games and it appeared that his spell at the Etihad Stadium was coming to an end.

But Stones told City chiefs that he wanted to fight for his place and has since roared back as one of Guardiola's trusted stars – laying bare the mental difficulties he had to overcome in conversation with Andy's Man Club, a suicide prevention charity partnered with the Treble winners.

'I don't think you can get better without setbacks, without tough times,' Stones said. 'There was a period in my career where I wasn't playing, wasn't playing for England.

John Stones has revealed how he stripped back his game to go from a Manchester City outcast to one of the premier central defenders in Europe

'It's all you think about. It's all that is on your mind. You want it to change. You don't think it's right. I had to look at myself and go back to the drawing board, to see where I could improve in every aspect. I focused all my energy on that. That setback is what I needed in the end to improve.'

City announced the partnership with Andy's Man Club in February and are set to offer a free weekly peer support session for the local community led by trained volunteers at the Etihad Stadum.

Available to males over the age of 18, the two-hour sessions will begin from May 13. Discussing his career with Lucas Whitehead and Oliver Vikse from Andy's Man Club, Stones was reflective about his time at the top, suggesting he should have paid more attention to senior professionals when breaking through at Everton.

The 29-year-old indicated that the pain of England's European Championship final defeat in 2021 can fuel them in Germany this summer.

'I suppose the fears I've had over my career, getting over them, is probably big games and the unknown,' Stones added. 'One example was the Euros final. There was a big fear, a lot of pressure.

'Going into I felt like I knew what was expected of me, what I had to do, but (there was) a big fear of losing and not wanting that outcome.

'Obviously that happened but how we conducted ourselves and what we did for the nation was something to be proud of. We've overcome that fear and hopefully this summer we can get over that step.'