Why John Stones missed Man City Carabao Cup defeat to Southampton - fitness in doubt for Man Utd clash

John Stones was a notable absentee from Manchester City’s matchday squad for Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup tie against Southampton.

The Blues suffered a surprise loss in the quarter-finals with first-half goals from Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo ensuring Southampton earned a 2-0 victory at St Mary’s, and the Saints subsequently drew Newcastle United in the last four.

City began the game with a back four of Joao Cancelo, Kyle Walker, Aymeric Laporte and Sergio Gomez, but Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake were introduced at half-time in place of the underwhelming Walker and Gomez. Yet, regardless of their defensive line-up, City were second best all over the pitch against Southampton and afforded Nathan Jones’ men too much time and space on the ball.

City sorely missed Stones at the heart of defence on Wednesday, with the centre-back one of City’s most in-form players since football has resumed following the World Cup. After being an unused substitute in Sunday’s 4-0 win over Chelsea, Stones missed the trip to Southampton as he was deemed to not be fully fit by the club.

This raises a slight fitness concern ahead of the trip to Manchester United this weekend, although players suffering from similar issues in the past at City have recovered quickly and returned for the upcoming game. Guardiola will also hope Stones is available for the derby with Ruben Dias currently out with a hamstring injury.

However, City did receive one minor boost on the south coast with Jack Grealish returning to the team after he missed the FA Cup victory over Chelsea due to illness. The winger played nearly an hour at St Mary’s but, like most for City, struggled to create goalscoring chances. Ederson, Rico Lewis, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez were unused substitutes against Southampton and are all likely to return to the team for the derby at Old Trafford.