John Stones details 'lonely, dark days' as England star pondered quitting football

John Stones has opened up on the “lonely dark days” which made him question whether he still had a future in football.

Manchester City defender Stones, 31, missed a huge chunk of last season - including the last three months of the campaign - through injury and is still managing his minutes and rehabilitation in the Club World Cup.

Stones is not expected to start games in the United States but is training well, stepping up his fitness and will be ready for the start of the Premier League season in August.

It has been a common theme of Stones’ recent bad fortune as one of the finest defenders of England’s recent past has been plagued by setbacks despite winning trophies galore at the Etihad.

Stones says he is now feeling in “great shape” but opened up on the frustrations of his season just gone and also how tough it is mentally to come through it when he admits he was wracked by self doubt.

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England centre half Stones said: “There's been points where you think: ‘you've been giving all this effort, you dedicate all your life, especially how I approach or go about my life, and football, I give everything, on and off the pitch to be here or be ready to play games and those are the dark days.

"I think everyone's been through them and think, ‘why is this happening?’ You wish it would have gone on a different path, but like I said, it's self-doubt, there's a lot of things All of us have been through different upbringings and challenges through life and what did we do within those situations, was it to fight or was it to give up?

"I was always a fighter from a young age, in difficult moments, you have to look at the bigger picture and realise what are your morals, what you believe in, and fight to make it worthwhile.

"I think we all self-doubt as players and feel things and we want to get back as quick as possible, maybe that's a downfall sometimes that you try and push too soon. What helps me? Definitely family, I think that's my biggest thing, being around them and having their support.

"You can feel very lonely at times when you're training by yourself and that's the difficult part of it, being in a team sport, not training with the team when you run out of the pitch in your rehab. So a lot of things that you've got to get used to and deal with and try and set yourself goals to come back and it's been a challenge. I am over that hurdle."

Stones helped England go all the way to the final of Euro 2024 but the season just gone was another stop-start campaign with a thigh issue being the biggest and longest injury problem this time.

Sadly, Stones has endured injury issues in the past few seasons and he has now sat down with the City medical staff to try and figure out the problems but also how to overcome it. He added: "I wish I had the answer and we all have the answer, it is frustrating for me, I put a lot of pressure on myself.

"I find it very challenging mentally, I have had some very low points in the past season and I just have to come back and once you come over those things, you can’t really see the end of the tunnel when they keep happening.

"And it's frustrating on the team, on myself, on the manager, that you're not available to help them, and you've got to find another way to be around the team. I don't know what the reason is, and we've sat with the medical staff, sports science, to try and figure out why.

"Some things can't be explained. Which is even more testing mentally when there’s not really an answer. I've been unlucky with some of the injuries that I've had, they were very rare last season, after speaking to specialists.

"Sometimes I think, why has it happened to me? But I've got to deal with that and move forward and try to adapt with how my body's adapting. As I said, I feel great, I'm back fit, ready to help the team when called upon.

"I think this season I've got to look more detailed into training, things that I can do off the pitch that I can sustain playing a lot more games."

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