Manchester City’s John Stones out with injury ‘for a while’

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola expects John Stones to be out “for a while” after being sent off at half-time in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Young Boys.

City secured their place in the Champions League last 16 with victory over the Swiss champions at the Etihad Stadium, but Stones’ injury is a blow with matches against Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur scheduled for the month. next.

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“It’s tough, he’ll be out for a while,” Guardiola said in a post-match press conference. “It’s a shame for him, he’s an incredible professional. It’s a shame and bad news for us. I don’t know for how long.”

Stones missed more than two months at the start of the season with a hip injury and Guardiola suggested the England defender had suffered a recurrence of the same problem.

The Spanish coach had better news regarding Manuel Akanji, who was withdrawn during the warm-up due to a back spasm. Akanji is expected to be fit for the trip to Chelsea on Sunday, while Erling Haaland was able to recover from an ankle injury to score twice against Young Boys.

“I saw the training session, how he moved,” Guardiola said. “He felt good, so OK, he’s going to play. Now rest up for Sunday.”

Meanwhile, Young Boys coach Raphael Wicky revealed he planned to speak to captain Mohamed Ali Camera after he was caught swapping shirts with Haaland at half-time.

“I haven’t seen that, it’s news to me and I’m a little surprised by it right now,” Wicky said. “On the other hand, I don’t think it has anything to do with the game or the performance but I’ll probably talk to him and see what he thought.

“Maybe Erling asked him to trade, I don’t know!”