John Stones is ‘confined to his room with a sickness bug’ after missing England training – with Man City defender ‘a doubt’ for Three Lions’ Euro 2024 opener against Serbia

John Stones has a sick virus and has been locked in his room to prevent it from spreading among the England squad.

Mail Sport reported on Wednesday morning how the Man City defender had not trained due to illness in a worrying sign for the Three Lions.

And according to Air sportsStones is now doubtful for England’s opener against Serbia on Sunday.

The 30-year-old has 72 England caps to his name and was a mainstay in Southgate’s first-choice side.

However, he enters the 2024 Euros after a somewhat disappointing season at City, where he struggled for fitness and game time.

The Manchester City star has a bout of illness and is doubtful for England’s opener against Serbia

Stones started just one Premier League match in the final three months of the season and needed training and playing time to reach full fitness after joining England.

Unfortunately, this may not be possible due to his illness, making his participation against Serbia questionable.

Even if he manages to get through, he is unlikely to complete 90 minutes due to his lack of match fitness.

Stones is one of five centre-backs selected by Southgate for the tournament, but he is by far the most important to the side’s success, especially after long-time international partner Harry Maguire was left out of the squad due to injury.

Stones was an unused substitute in seven of City’s last ten league games and failed to make the squad all the way in another match. Despite that patchy involvement at club level, he remains irreplaceable for the national team.

Stones’ potential absence is a major headache for Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate

On Wednesday, England stepped up preparations for their tournament opener against Serbia

Meanwhile, the Three Lions trained in Germany for the first time on Tuesday after arriving at their base at the Weimarer Land Spa and Golf Resort on the outskirts of Blankenhain.

Southgate received a double boost thanks to the participation of Luke Shaw and Stones, who was substituted at half-time in the final friendly against Iceland last week after taking a blow during the early substitutions.

However, Stones’ absence from Wednesday’s session will cause the England boss a headache ahead of Sunday’s match against Serbia, with Ezri Konsa or Lewis Dunk likely to replace City’s defender.

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