Stones using City experience to drive England forward | OneFootball

John Stones is hoping that his experiences at winning trophies with Manchester City can help inspire England to success at EURO 2024.

The Three Lions face Slovakia in the last-16 on Sunday at 17:00 (UK) after topping Group B with a win and two draws in the opening stage.

Stones has been a pivotal part of City’s recent success, winning 15 trophies in his eight years at the Club and playing in plenty of high-pressure matches.

After reaching 75 caps in England’s final group game with Slovenia, he also has a wealth of experience for the national team, playing in the EURO 2020 final and 2022 World Cup final.

England are three games away from reaching the final, but the defender says they are not looking beyond the weekend game in Gelsenkirchen.

“We're so focused on who's in front of us, I think [now it’s just about] trying to tweak our tactics,” he said on England’s Lions’ Den live show.

“I think it's now time for us senior boys to step up off the pitch and give our advice.

“How we've approached things over the past seven years at City and our experiences of big pressure games and pressure games in the Euros and the World Cups.

“Try to keep everyone as calm as possible as an England player.”

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As the tournament moves into the knockout stages, Gareth Southgate’s side can’t afford any slip-ups if England are to end their 48-year wait for a trophy.

With City, Stones has been on incredible end-of-season winning runs where even a draw would have seen us miss out on the Premier League title.

And he’s been a major player in plenty of cup triumphs, alongside City and England team-mates Kyle Walker and Phil Foden.

WATCH: In Conversation with John Stones | Official Man City Podcast

“[City have] been so good over the years, going on such long runs and treating every game as a final,” he added.

“We've got to that stage now in the tournament where every game is a final. We just kind of drip feed it in a little bit.

“I think one of the best things that with Walks especially is he is good as keeping the standards in training.

“Things can get on top of you and the pressure and willingness to do well almost backfires sometimes. [He] is one of the best at keeping the standards, keeping everyone in check and I think it's exciting times now.”

With plenty of new faces in the England squad, Stones also says it’s up to the senior players to take care of the younger members.

“Just spotting signs of people’s demeanour around the place, sometimes people can be quiet or just about being there for them and asking,” he said.

“I think we've been there ourselves, everyone has tough days when you're away for weeks and just leave them alone, but sometimes it's in training we offer that little bit of advice.”