Stones' salute for his two perfect football mentors

JOHN Stones believes England manager Gareth Southgate has similar qualities to Pep Guardiola and sees the pair as perfect mentors for club and country.

On the face of it the duo have little in common beyond their age - both men are 46 - and their overlapping playing careers.

While Manchester City boss Guardiola boasts a trophy-laden coaching CV from his time at European giants Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Southgate was relegated with Middlesbrough in his only club job before honing his craft with England under-21s.

SKILLS

But Stones, having worked at length with both, sees plenty of shared skills.

"I don't think they're too different, both want to play football, both have got great football brains and knowledge about the game," he said, speaking ahead of England's friendly fixture in Germany tomorrow night.

"(Guardiola) only speaks in team meetings or if he wants to tell you something individually.

"I think that's a great quality as a manager, giving you little bits here and not flooding you with too many things.

"And when I was with the under-21s we had a great group, (Southgate) was not bombarding you with too much info.

"It was picking up little pointers during training or during games."

The past year has seen the 22-year-old thrust into the spotlight like never before, as a high-profile addition to City's quest for silverware and a regular starter at international level for the first time.

THE Manchester derby has been rearranged for Thursday, April 27, the Premier League has confirmed.

The clash between City and United at the Etihad Stadium was postponed in February because of United's involvement in the EFL Cup final.

Consequently, City's league trip to Middlesbrough has been put back a day to Sunday, April 30. City still have another game against West Brom to rearrange due to their progress to the FA Cup semi-finals. A new date for that match will be confirmed next month.

Meanwhile, City have landed a FA misconduct charge for allegedly failing to control their players during Sunday's 1-1 draw with Liverpool.

A number of players were seen to surround referee Michael Oliver after he awarded the visitors a penalty just after half-time.