John Stones has shared his side of the story after Pep Guardiola gave him a dressing down during Manchester City’s 5-1 win over Atalanta in the Champions League.
Raheem Sterling scored an outstanding 11-minute hat-trick after Sergio Aguero’s first-half double as City maintained their 100 per cent record in Group C in convincing manner.
A 28th-minute penalty from Ruslan Malinovskiy, Phil Foden’s red card and an injury to Rodri were the only blemishes on an otherwise good night for the Premier League champions.
Rodri went down with a suspected hamstring problem just before half-time and Pep Guardiola called for Stones to come on in his place at defence alongside Fernandinho.
However, Stones was not completely ready for the sub and took a few moments adjusting his shin pads which provoked an angry reaction from Guardiola who slammed a seat in anger.
Asked about his telling off, John Stones told BT Sport: ‘I had them on but I just needed to fix them up properly. ‘Time is of the essence and that’s what he wanted.’
Guardiola will be waiting nervously for updates on Rodri’s injury after using the midfielder as a central defender in recent games.
‘Hopefully it will be 10 days if [his hamstring] is not broken,’ Guardiola said.
‘If it is broken it will be three weeks or one month.
‘I didn’t speak with Rodri or the doctor just yet but looks like a hamstring. ‘When one guy runs and puts their hand in the hamstring position, it is a hamstring. It looks like.’
