Stones out to prove a point after Pope pokes fun at City centre-back

John Stones may have a point to prove on Saturday as he comes up against the lower division footballer who teased him over the summer.Veteran Port Vale striker Tom Pope claimed he would be prolific if he faced Stones every week after the Manchester City defender endured a difficult match in Englands Nations League loss to Holland.Just watched the highlights of the England game! I know Im a league 2 player, I know he plays for England, I know hes on 150k a week, I know hes a million times better player than me but Id love to play against John Stones every week! Id get 40 a season! #soft #weakaspiss Tom Pope (@Tom_Pope9) June 7, 2019The 34-year-old tweeted: Just watched the highlights of the England game! I know Im a league 2 player, I know he plays for England, I know hes on 150k a week, I know hes a million times better player than me but Id love to play against John Stones every week! Id get 40 a season!That tweet resurfaced last month when City, the holders, were drawn against Vale in the third round of the FA Cup.The tie takes place at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening and Stones is expected to return for the Premier League champions after almost a month out with a hamstring injury.Tom Pope, left, has criticised John Stones defending (David Davies/PA)Hes fit and available, said City manager Pep Guardiola. Step by step hes getting better. Hes still not at the top but hes good for some minutes.City had high hopes that Stones, 25, could develop into a world-class, ball-playing centre-back when they signed him from Everton in a 47.5million deal in 2016.He has since endured mixed fortunes at City, with injuries and inconsistent form preventing him holding down a firm place in the side.Guardiola accepts Stones may not yet have fulfilled his potential, but is not ready to give up on him.Guardiola (right) retains high hopes for Stones (Martin Rickett/PA)The City boss said: He has the conditions to do it, but to be the best central defender you have to play one entire season, every three days being there.Its difficult to reach the potential that he has, he has to be at the level to play regularly. The last three seasons and a half he could not do it.Sometimes when you have a tough injury for example like Aymeric (Laporte) had this season or (Ilkay) Gundogan in the first, or (Benjamin) Mendy the year he arrived its unlucky. But in the case of John, I dont know why he has not been able to play regularly.We try to help him. We have tried to do the best to help him since the first day of the three-and-a-half years we have been here. We do everything for him.It depends on him. Its in his hands and in his head to become one of the best.This tweet was 6 months ago and youve all managed to dig it up in them 6 months hes improved dramatically and I think hes the best centre half in the world https://t.co/i64I9jCLKt Tom Pope (@Tom_Pope9) December 2, 2019Pope, who scored a hat-trick in Vales second-round win at Cheltenham, backtracked a little on his controversial tweet after his side were drawn against City.He tweeted: This tweet was 6 months ago and youve all managed to dig it up. In them 6 months hes improved dramatically and I think hes the best centre half in the world.The original, however, has not been forgotten.It was not nice, Guardiola said.Pope, though, is still eager to go head to head with the England international.He is physically not the strongest centre-half, he said in an interview with the Guardian. He is a ball-playing centre-half.That is not a criticism of him but, as a target man, if you are Andy Carroll or Peter Crouch, they would all do the same thing and try and bully him and rough him up. Id stand by that.(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
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