Man City's John Stones says he's heading in the right direction

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  • Manchester City’s John Stones is confident he’s heading in the right direction despite another defensive lapse during the 5-3 defeat of Monaco.

    The 22-year-old has endured a difficult start to life at the Etihad Stadium having signed from Everton for £47.5 million (Dh217.4m) last summer.

    The ball-playing defender’s form has dipped under Pep Guardiola culminating in the England international being dropped for the Premier League clash with Tottenham last month.

    And he was again the subject of stinging criticism after Radamel Falcao left him sprawling before chipping an exquisite third as City came from behind to take a two-goal advantage in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

    But Stones is keen ensure he uses the errors to make him a better defender.

    “Personally the one v one I could have done a lot better with and I’ll try hard in training to work on it,” said Stones Wednesday at the Emirates Palace hotel where City are based for a warm-weather training camp in Abu Dhabi.

    “I think there’s an element of luck involved but that’s what happens sometimes, it goes against you. There’s a lot of things for me to look over and see how I can improve on it.”

    Stones’ performances this season have been heavily scrutinised but the defender insists he doesn’t pay too much attention to the criticism.

    “It’s always going to be harsh but you’ve got take it in your stride and worry about yourself,” he added.

    “I’ve got good people around me here and I know when I’ve had a good or bad game and I’ll always be honest with myself.

    “I’ll hold my hands up and say I made this mistake and try to improve and move forward, that’s the attitude I feel will make me a better player.

    “I’ve got the right people around me and I feel like I’m going in the right direction so I just need keep going.”

    Guardiola’s style implores his team to build from the back and it’s meant Stones is expected to flourish with the ball at his feet.

    Consequently, he has a lot more to think about but Stones rejects the notion it’s leading to the lapses in concentration without the ball.

    “No, I think people can over complicate things and think into things too much,” he said.

    “I’m enjoying my football massively and I think how the gaffer explains things to us and how hard we work on things in training ensures we know what to do in the games.

    “We know our jobs both attacking and defending.”

    City return to England on Saturday before welcoming Championship side Huddersfield Town on Wednesday for an FA Cup fifth-round replay.

    They resume their bid to cut the eight-point gap between themselves and league leaders Chelsea with games against Sunderland and Stoke before travelling to Monaco for the second leg.

    But goalkeeper Willy Caballero feels his side will need to eliminate their defensive frailties to secure qualification.

    Speaking after the win on Tuesday, the Argentinean, who now seems to have supplanted Claudio Bravo as City’s first-choice keeper, said: “If you win the first game you are in a good position, two goals is a good distance, but it is not enough because they have a good team with fantastic strikers.

    “We have to improve a lot in our defence and our way to defend if it is not going to be another crazy game – and we don’t want that and we don’t need it.”

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