World Cup 2018: John Stones wants to make up for lost tournament with England after 'massive' improvement

John Stones is ready to bounce back from the disappointment of sitting out of England's 2016 European Championships campaign and believes he has improved “massively” in the time since, thanks mainly to Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola.

Stones travelled to France two years ago as part of the 23-man Euros squad selected by then-England manager Roy Hodgson, having played the entirety of two pre-tournament friendlies, yet found himself out of favour once the tournament began.

Despite Hodgson rotating his side heavily for the final group game against Slovakia, Stones did not feature. Of all England’s outfield players, only he and Ross Barkley returned home without a single minute under their belts.

The 24-year-old, likely to start in the centre of Gareth Southgate’s defence at this summer’s World Cup in Russia, now remembers the 2016 Euros as a tournament he “can never get back”.

“It was disappointing,” he said, while speaking with members of the national press at St George’s Park on Tuesday. “It was difficult. However long we were out there me and Ross didn’t get a second on the pitch. And that is a tournament I can never get back.

“There’s all sorts of ways to look at it. I can look at it and I can be negative about it and almost start pointing the finger and blaming people. But I would never do that.

“I have got to look at it and think: ‘How can I bring that experience into this tournament?’ Motivation-wise and knowing how team-mates feel when they are not playing. They are just as important as the boys who are playing and knowing that everyone has a vital role to play.”

Stones stresses that he respected the decision to leave him out and had no issue with Hodgson, who was “brilliant” with the young centre-half and always made him feel part of the group.

“I think every manager has got that decision to make,” Stones said. “I’ve got to look at it from his point of view and think he is not going to be happy, he probably thought [afterwards]: ‘I could have made changes.’

“It is human nature. We always think: ‘Could I have done this, could I have done that?’ I just tried to take the positives out of it and the experience for this time around.”

Later that same summer the Barnsley-born defender joined City from Everton for £47.5m, making him the world’s second most expensive defender at the time. Since then, he has won the Premier League and the League Cup as part of an outstanding Guardiola side, as well as establishing himself at international level.

Asked whether he believes he has improved since last joining up with England at a major tournament, Stones said: “Oh, massively, massively.” He also admits he owes his improvement to his club manager.

“[It’s] mostly Pep! Definitely Pep, the players I’m playing with at club level, and obviously becoming more mature, knowing myself and knowing the game better,” he said. “I think the thing for me is how [Pep] has made everything so simple. He has taken my footballing brain to another level.

“Everyone thinks they know football and different systems but when I turned up at City and trained with him it was like a new door opening that I never thought would be there. Everything seem to click and everything is so simple. Simplicity is key.”

Guardiola will be there if Stones needs to talk during his time at World Cup too. “He’s very open,” the defender added. “He said we can call him or text him whenever I need to – 24 hours a day – he’s always said that which is brilliant of him as a person in my opinion. Even if it is not football related. That is important.”

Stones was a fixture in City’s side during the first half of the season, when the Premier League champions established a commanding lead they would never relinquish.

However, a hamstring injury sustained in November set him back and a string of injuries during the latter part of the campaign limited his playing time further.

With just nine club appearances to his name between January and April, there was some concern that Stones’ fitness may cost him a place in Russia, but starts against Huddersfield Town and Southampton in the closing weeks of City’s league campaign were reassuring.

“I didn’t come back [from the hamstring injury] how I was before and that was upsetting from a personal point of view and the team,” he said. “I came away with England and got injured – when I got back actually. I was concussed, then was ill and then got injured again [abductor]. It was like a chain effect.

Stones added: “I always just thought whatever happens, happens. You’ve got to take your chance when you can when you are on the pitch and in those last two games [against Huddersfield Town and Southampton] I tried to do that.”