Hull vs Manchester City: Pep Guardiola dismisses claim he no longer trusts John Stones and backs defender to recover

Stones was dropped after City's defeat by Leicester and their defensive record has improved significantly as a result, but Guardiola has no concerns over his City future

John Stones has been left on the substitutes' bench for City's recent matches (Getty)

Pep Guardiola has refuted the suggestion he no longer trusts John Stones.

The man who became the Premier League’s most expensive defender when he arrived from Everton for £50m in the summer has watched Manchester City’s last two games from the bench. The fact that City won them both and restricted Watford and Arsenal to very limited goalscoring opportunities would have done little for his chances of an early recall.

“I know the theory that if a player does not play it is because the coach does not trust him anymore,” said Guardiola before the Boxing Day meeting at Hull.

“This is not the truth. Our job is uncomfortable. It is unfair in most of the cases of many, many players because they deserve to play but I cannot find a solution for these kinds of things.

“All of them have to be prepared to play because the season is so long and now we start a tough moment. Then there is the FA Cup and then there is the Champions League.”

Like his fellow Englishman, Raheem Sterling, Stones adapted impressively to Guardiola’s tactics before falling away.

But while Sterling kept his place and scored the winner against Arsenal, Stones has been the victim of Guardiola’s decision to switch to a flat back four after successive defeats by Chelsea and Leicester.

It was the 4-0 thrashing by Barcelona in the Nou Camp in October where Stones first looked seriously exposed. The following month, Roy Keane lambasted the 22-year-old’s ‘childlike defending’ after the Borussia Monchengladbach captain, Lars Stindl, brushed him aside for the German club’s equaliser.

In his last game before being dropped, Stones was guilty of a dreadfully-lax back pass to allow Jamie Vardy to complete his hat-trick during City’s 4-2 defeat at Leicester.

Guardiola ridiculed suggestions Manchester City might buy the Southampton centre-half Virgil van Dijk to shore up their defence, although he did concede the club could do with cover at full back.

Asked how a naturally-talented but still young defender like Stones might improve, Guardiola replied: “Play, play and play.” He added: “It is the only way you can improve as a football player.

“If a manager plays a lot of games, you are a better manager. John needs to train every day, be fit and wait until I decide he has to play again.

“He has played a lot. It is the first time in his career that he has played every three days. This season he has had the Champions League as well as the League Cup and every three days you have to be focused.

Stones' error against Leicester proved to be the tipping point for Guardiola (Getty)

“If I didn’t have confidence in him, he would not have played the games he has played. Of course, he must improve, just like Nicolas Otamendi and Aleks Kolarov must improve.

“John is young, he has to improve but he is open and he has a lot of personality. When you play in the big teams, you have to show character.

“The difference with players at big clubs is the personality, how they react in bad moments. John is one of them; I don’t have doubts about that.”