Guardiola: Losing John Stones will test us to limit

Pep Guardiola believes the loss of John Stones will present Manchester City with a tough examination of their title credentials in the coming weeks.

Centre-back Stones, whose outstanding form saw him play back-to-back 90-minute games for England against Germany and Brazil earlier this month, faces six weeks out with the hamstring injury sustained in Saturday’s win at Leicester.

The return of captain Vincent Kompany at the weekend after his own lay-off is timely but, given the Belgian’s patchy fitness record, the Premier League leaders do appear short of defensive cover.