Stones the exception to Tuchel’s World Cup rule despite cold shoulder from Guardiola

England’s head coach still rates injury-prone Manchester City defender and seems likely to be a fundamental part of his squad this summer

Every manager reserves the right to make an exception to the rules. For Thomas Tuchel, it is John Stones. The England head coach has watched Stones endure a lost season at Manchester City; another one, really, because things were similar for him last time out – certainly in terms of appearances.

Once again, there have been injury problems, the sense that Stones cannot get himself fully right compounded over this past week with England. The 31-year-old struggled in training and when he felt something in a calf muscle on Thursday, Tuchel was forced to leave him out of the Wembley friendly against Uruguay on Friday night. He started Fikayo Tomori alongside Harry Maguire in central defence in a drab game that ended 1-1.