“I believe” – John Stones sends urgent warning to Manchester City teammates amid current Premier League slump

John Stones has sent an urgent message to his Manchester City teammates following their latest setback in a Premier League slump for the reigning champions.

After a run of three successive draws in the English top-flight at the hands of Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham either side of the international break, a trip to Villa Park to face Unai Emery’s men required a victory to regain spirits in the camp.

However, the performance has gone down as one of the poorest of the Pep Guardiola reign, with Aston Villa’s 22 shots on Ederson’s goal being the highest faced by any side managed by the Catalan coach in Europe’s top leagues.

The result on Wednesday night leaves Manchester City six points off the pace set by the current league leaders Arsenal, as they sit fourth and just three points ahead of Manchester United and Tottenham.

A feeling of help has been somewhat retained by the Manchester City camp, and John Stones – who appeared as a lone defensive midfielder in Birmingham this week – led the rallying calls to his teammates during post-match media duties.

Speaking following Manchester City’s hugely underwhelming and disappointing 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday night, John Stones has urged his teammates to use their pain as fuel to strive them on to greater successes and improved results.

“We have to use the hurt and the pain that is within us, our stomachs, our brains, wherever it might be, as motivation and fuel to put things right,” John Stones explained to ManCity.com. “I think everyone has that desire.”

He continued, “We’ve been in these positions in previous seasons. I don’t think we or everyone should be hyping about what is going to happen. I think we have to stay calm as a team, which I think we will do tomorrow once we’ve analysed it and settled down emotionally. 

“We win and lose together. I think we all could have done better tonight. I believe in us as individuals and as a team. We’ve got a great opportunity with a game coming up so soon on the weekend to put things right and to get back to winning ways.”

Stones closed with a final message of belief over potential imminent improvements from the side, “We need to not forget this feeling, but not dwell on it. We have to use this pain after all the success we’ve had, I think it can work in our favour and make us even better as a team.”

Manchester City’s opportunity to put things right comes on Sunday afternoon, as they travel to face the newly-promoted Luton Town at Kenilworth Road, with Rob Jones’ side coming into the clash off the back of an enthralling and narrow defeat to Arsenal.