I want Jags' place in team, says Stones

I want Jags' place in team, says Stones

<time itemprop="datePublished" datetime="2014-01-02T07:40:18" class="published-date">http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/everton-fc-youngster-john

2 Jan 2014 07:40</time>Blues youngster praises mentor, while admitting aim is to "give manager a problem" when Jagielka is fit again





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<figure class="clearfix"><figcaption>John Stones (left) and Seamus Coleman discuss matters at Stoke</figcaption></figure>

John Stones insists he has the perfect mentor in Phil Jagielka – but his ultimate aim is to challenge for the Everton FC skipper’s place in the team.
The highly-rated 19-year-old made his Premier League debut during yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, with both Jagielka and Sylvain Distin sidelined with hamstring problems.

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England U21 international Stones produced a mature and composed performance alongside Antolin Alcaraz in a makeshift central defensive pair, and he explained how learning from Jagielka & Co has helped him progress rapidly since he joined the Blues from Barnsley for £3m in January 2013.
Read More: Greg O'Keeffe's big match verdict
He said: “It’s his desire to become the best he can. There’s always little things that Jags will tell me or I see him doing in training that I pick up on – if it’s positionally or even a pass I see him playing. Things like that. His experience is rubbing off on me and I can’t thank him enough for that.
“I just need to take my chance now and embrace it. I want to give the manager a problem to choose his side when Jags is back fit. That’s all I can do really.
“It’s nice to hear the faith the manager has in me. It puts a lot of confidence into us and playing me against Stoke was a special moment for me.”
The defender, who can also play at right-back, reserved praise for Alcaraz too, after the Paraguayan made only his second start in a blue shirt since joining in the summer.
“Me and Antolin have played a few behind closed doors games together so we know how each other works and he’s such an experienced guy as well,” he said.
“It’s a big learning curve for me, but the pros I have around me make it easier to come into a game like this.
“I love getting on the ball and trying to make things happen from the back. The manager has put his stamp on how we train and how we play and it suits me as a player and all the dressing room.
“Every week we’re trying to better ourselves and looking at the stats and trying to improve on them. They’re a key part in everyone’s game now and it’s a good indicator for how we’re coming on.”
Stones had to be at his best during the first half in particular, when the Potters piled pressure on Everton’s new defensive duo, and although he was pleased with how he coped in testing wintry conditions, he admitted he was frustrated that the Blues were denied a victory by a combination of the woodwork and Oussama Assaidi’s second half goal.
“I’ve always heard about the weather conditions at the Brit and what it’s like and it was a big test,” he said.
“The wind and the rain made it tough and added extra pressure.
“Then with the height they have I thought we coped really well. To grind out that result was good but I felt we should have had three points.”

 

Looking forward to see him flourish. We all knew he would. We still need to rename the embarrassingly named 'John Stones Gym' though!


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