England defender John Stones feared he broke his foot just days before start of Euro 2024

John Stones feared he would be ruled out of Euro 2024 (Picture: Getty)

John Stones feared he broke his foot in England’s final Euro 2024 warm-up game and would cruelly be ruled out of the tournament.

The Manchester City defender, who has 72 England caps, suffered an injury scare in England’s 1-0 defeat to Iceland at Wembley last week.

Starting the match alongside Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi – who he is expected to partner in England’s Euros opener against Serbia – Stones was subbed off at half-time after a heavy knock early on.

Stones admits he was ‘worried’ he had broken his foot and immediately featured for his Euros prospects.

But thankfully those fears were unfounded and Stones is ‘feeling really good’ ahead of England’s opening Euro 2024 fixture on Sunday night.

‘I was worried at first, just the mechanism of how it happened, how I landed on my foot,’ the 30-year-old said.

‘I knew it wasn’t my knee or my ankle, because of the mechanism in how I landed. It was almost like my big toe in the line straight down my foot and you think “I have fractured it”. 

Stones will be a key player for the Three Lions in Germany (Picture: Getty)

‘You think the worst at the start and we got some scans back and [it was] really minor stuff and came through it, which is great. 

‘I thought if I have fractured it, get the doctors, tablets, injections, whatever it is, I don’t want to miss out – which I think with my history of injuries and knowing how to deal with them mentally and being in a positive mind-frame in that sense is really beneficial. 

‘If it was bad, I was ready to go and gladly it wasn’t.’ 

While Stones soon returned to training, his Euros preparations took a further hit when he came down with a sickness bug shortly after arriving in Germany.

Gareth Southgate’s side begin their Euros campaign this weekend (Picture: Getty)

The six-time Premier League winner missed training earlier in the week and says he felt ‘quite alone’ as he recovered in his hotel room.

‘I haven’t been that bad in… I couldn’t tell you how long. I am not getting into detail,’ Stones said.

‘It was a real rough 36 hours. I didn’t feel great the day before in the open session but felt good enough and thought it would just pass and ended up ringing the doctor in early hours of the morning after being up for a few hours and couldn’t take it any more. 

‘I felt quite alone to be honest, which you might not at home – no one around you and then being stuck in your room all day, no food, not much water because it was coming out again. 

‘It kind of puts into perspective, of health in general, how lucky I am over the years. I don’t get ill or sickness. 

‘I think it was a good time, if it was ever going to happen, during this week and I got back out on Thursday. 

‘It could have been from anything. I have not really thought about it in that way, I am just glad to be over it. 

‘I was in my room the whole time. I only saw the doctor. I managed to eat the next day, when I was in my room, late at night (on Wednesday). 

‘It was over quickly and it could have been a lot worse than what it was and I was glad to get through training on Thursday.’ 

Asked about his availability for Serbia, Stones added: ‘I feel great. Really good. 

‘I have been topping up after training. I am on track with everyone else and am looking to do my extras to catch up on what I have missed out on and in the gym as well. I feel great physically. I am looking forward to it now.’ 

England are attempting to win their first major trophy in the men’s game since 1966 and face Denmark and Slovenia in Group C after opening the tournament against Serbia.

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