John Stones would be harshly excluded from the Euro 2024 warm-up if he fractured his foot in England’s last match.
Stones was substituted at half-time after a strong knock early on, having started the game alongside Marc Guehi, who is expected to be his partner in England’s Euro opener against Serbia.
Stones admitted he was “worried” about fracturing his foot and immediately feared for his Euros prospects.
Fortunately, Stones is “feeling pretty fine” ahead of England’s opening Euro 2024 game on Sunday night, and those worries proved unfounded.
The 30-year-old explained, “I was initially concerned about the way I landed on my foot.”
Given how I landed, I knew it wasn’t my ankle or knee. You could almost see my big toe in line with my foot, and you might think “I’ve broken it.”
At first, you expect the worst; then, we had some scans that showed it was a minor issue, which was great.
With my history of injuries and knowing how to handle them emotionally is incredibly helpful; I thought if I had fractured it, get the doctors, medications, injections, whatever it takes, I didn’t want to miss out.
If it was serious, I was ready to step aside; fortunately, it wasn’t.
Stones immediately returned to training, but his Euros campaign faced another setback when he developed an illness soon after arriving in Germany.
