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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Dan Kilpatrick

John Stones not concerned by Man City's off-field issues: 'I put a lot of trust in the club'

John Stones insists he is not worried by Manchester City's mounting off-the-field dramas and says he has "a lot of trust in the club".

The champions are currently embroiled in a spin war with the Premier League after both sides claimed a victory in the landmark legal case over the top-flight's rules on commercial deals.

City are still to face a separate hearing over their alleged 115 breaches of the League's financial rules, while this week it was revealed that their director of football Txiki Begiristain will leave the club at the end of the season.

Asked if any of the noise was proving a distraction, City defender Stones said: "The honest truth is no, it doesn’t worry me.

"I am very much someone if I cannot control it I don’t give it the headspace or attention.

"That might seem a bit wrong in some ways, but that is how I deal with it.

"At the end of the day, it is out of my hands and I put a lot of trust in the club and the people around me are good.

"I think I have quite a simple mindset towards things that I can control and what I can affect and I don't think it has done too bad so far or maybe I haven’t got the capacity to deal with all those things so I choose to put them to one side."

Stones is on England duty, preparing for this week's Nations League double-header against Greece and Finland under interim head coach Lee Carsley.

The centre-half says he can see "a lot similarities" in the methods of Carsley, who has stepped up from the Under-21s, and legendary City coach Pep Guardiola.

"Everyone has got their own unique style and I think there are similarities throughout every manager in what they want," Stones said.

"There are a lot of similarities between Lee and Pep in how they see the game and how they want us to play and I think we saw that last month when we played the two games and obviously got positive results from them. It’s been great for me with the likenesses of how we play.

"They do a lot of research on us as players and as teams and see how we play at our clubs and try to bring that in and make it as easy as possible for us as players to gel together and move forward in one direction."

Stones has started just once in the Premier League for City this season and he admits it is frustrating to find himself currently out of Guardiola's team.

"It’s always frustrating when you want to play," he said. "That's football. Obviously, coming back later than the majority of the squad after the Euros, the team being in good form...a lot of factors.

"I’ve been in this position before, where you are in and out and don’t really get a run of games but you know how important you are and you know not to get frustrated and to be there for the team and that’s what I’ve done and had a positive effect from the bench and when I have started as well.

"Yeah, I am always going to say I wish I could start every game but it is a long season and there are a lot of important games coming up.

"Especially at our club, we need every player fit and fighting for positions and I’m in a positive mindset and I think that is really important because at times like these, more inexperienced players can maybe get frustrated and that has a bad effect when called upon. It means you’re not ready, you’re not in that positive mind-frame.

"It’s something I’ve learnt over the years … to put my personal problems or feelings to one side and be there for the team and I am excited for what is coming as well."

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