Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted that John Stones\u2019 latest injury concern \u201cdoesn\u2019t look good\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n The 29-year-old has been plagued by injuries throughout the 2023\/24 season, missing 12 games for both club and country due to a hip problem picked up in pre-season.<\/p>\n Stones\u2019 fifth Premier League start of the campaign ended abruptly against former club Everton on Wednesday night, when he was forced to leave the field after colliding heavily with opposing forward Beto.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t look good, probably but we will see. It\u2019s his ankle,\u201d Guardiola told host broadcaster\u00a0Amazon Prime<\/em>\u00a0after the game. \u201cHopefully the damage isn\u2019t big and he can come back soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Stones missed two months of action during the 2022\/23 season with a hamstring injury and has never played more than 27\u00a0Premier League\u00a0games for City in a single campaign, despite being at the club for almost eight years.<\/p>\n He has, however, become one of City\u2019s most important players over the past year or so, demonstrating great versatility to step into a defensive midfield role that allows Guardiola to tweak the team\u2019s formation when in possession.<\/p>\n Stones is consoled by Ederson and Manuel Akanji as he leaves the field \/ Robbie Jay Barratt \u2013 AMA\/GettyImages<\/p>\n Stones\u2019 absence has been felt in recent draws with Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, while he also played just a minute against Crystal Palace prior to Christmas in another game that saw the champions drop points.<\/p>\n City were able to overcome Everton after losing Stones to injury at Goodison Park, fighting back from a goal down to win 3-1 thanks to strikes from Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and a\u00a0controversial penalty from Julian Alvarez.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a massive win for us after where we came back from Saudi Arabia as world champions,\u201d Guardiola said when asked about the significance of the result. \u201cWe were really pleased with how we reacted and it proved again how special this group of players is and the mentality that we have in our bones.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are really pleased for the victory except to concede a goal after we played really good. But the second half we increased our rhythm, played to the wingers and it was really really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/01hjr5hfeftejsfzbas4.jpg\" "\\"John")
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