There was frustration and some negative energy in the Manchester City dressing room after their New Year's Eve draw with Everton, an 'emotional' John Stones has revealed.
City took the lead in the first half through Erling Haaland, but were punished by Everton's one shot on target following a defensive lapse when Demarai Gray found the top corner to earn the visitors a draw. A point leaves City seven points off Arsenal heading into 2023, and Stones said the dressing room mood reflected the missed opportunity in the title race.
And with much more difficult fixtures ahead, Stones admitted that there is no more room for error and that every game from now on is a 'must win'.
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“It's difficult to put into words. Frustrated," said a downbeat Stones after the game.
"The dressing room is a bit low and frustrated for not getting more out of the game. It’s something we have to deal with and move on for the next game and try to put the things that didn’t go well right for the next time. I think the overriding feeling is a bit emotional now and maybe not the right emotions we should be feeling after reviewing it. We’ll look back and feel different and maybe more positive.
"I think already I’m extremely proud looking at how the lads reacted, how we fought right until the end. We created some great chances and another day they probably go in and it changes the game. How we played overall today I thought we were very dominant, created a lot of chances, conceded very minimal chances - one that was probably unsavable. It was right in the top corner, and we’ll look back and see what we can do to make sure we don’t get into those situations again.
"That’s football sometimes - we have to move on and take the positives. We’ll definitely learn from what happened today.”
Stones continued: “They tried to frustrate the game definitely. I think we coped with that really well and kept going right until the end. We tried to affect what we could. It’s kind of out of our hands, we can’t hurry the game up. We can only put the ball back in play and do as much as we can. I think we did that today - it’s difficult when teams try and do that. I’m a big believer that we can only affect what we can and today I was very emotional after the game.
"I didn’t really know what my thoughts were about the game and after speaking with a few people - definitely frustrated for one and I think everyone feels like that, but we have to look at the positives in how we kept going and some of the football we played and the chances we created right until the end.”
With away games at Chelsea and Manchester United next up in the Premier League, and Arsenal looking dangerous in first place, Stones accepted that every game from now until the end of the season is a 'must-win' if City are to catch the Gunners.
He said: “Definitely every game is a must-win now. I think that’s been the same mentality for the seven years that I’ve been here. As I said before, I’m a big believer in affecting what you can affect and as a team.
"We can’t affect what Arsenal do so that’s down to them and we focus very much on ourselves and don’t listen to too much or concentrate on too much on what’s going on - on the outside."
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