Manchester City center-back John Stones has earned a place in Gareth Southgate England squad after a series of good performances.
Stones has not featured for England since November 2019 against Montenegro and his hard work has earned him a position. Along with his teammates Kyle Walker, Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling, he believes they will instill the winning mentality.
Stones believe Southgate is unafraid to ax established players after he bombed-out Trent Alexander-Arnold. He attributes such an ax as a sign of a good manager.
“I think it is the sign of a good manager … every manager has got to have that ruthless streak in their DNA,” Stones said.
“I think it’s making tough calls. Making calls that maybe some people don’t think are right at times, sticking by them, and believing in himself.
“From my experience, all the managers that I’ve been with have had a ruthless streak and made big calls,” he added.
Stones continued to talk about England’s Coach Southgate and how privileged to have earned a call-up to the squad.
“As players, we respect that because he’s always been honest and open with us.
“And as long as you’ve got that, then you know where you stand, and that’s a credit to him,” he said.
The 26-year-old Manchester City defender revealed that he has worked hard for the call-up and he was excited.
“It was a relief. I was very nervous. I had worked so hard and I was hearing people say I should be in but I didn’t take any of that in until the text arrived,” Stones said.
Stones revealed he was anxiously waiting for the call-up, “I was waiting for the text to see if I was in. Time goes a bit slower when you are sat about waiting for something to happen. It was a special moment. A really special moment.”