Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he has not lost faith in England centre-back John Stones and has no plans to replace him with Southampton's Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk.
City and Premier League leaders Chelsea have been linked with Van Dijk despite Southampton's insistence the highly regarded centre-back is not for sale.
Stones, 22, has struggled since his £47.5 million ($59.3 million, 56.8 million euros) switch from Everton and has spent City's last two games on the bench, but Guardiola said he was merely being rested.
"It's the first time in his career he played every three days," Guardiola said. "It had never happened before with the Champions League and the League Cup and every three days you have to be focused.
"He played a lot. If I didn't have confidence in him, he would not have played the games that he played.
"Of course he must improve, like (Nicolas) Otamendi must improve, like (Aleksandar) Kolarov must improve and like Vincent (Kompany) is coming back (from injury).
"I decided to play with a back four against Watford (a 2-0 win) for some reason and I tried the same back four for the Arsenal game (a 2-1 win).
"I know that people think if a player doesn't play it is because the coach doesn't trust him anymore. That is not the truth.
"Our job is uncomfortable. It is unfair in most of the cases of many, many players because they deserve to play, but I cannot find a solution for these kind of things.
"All of them have to prepare because it is so long and now we start a tough moment and immediately arrive in the (FA) Cup and the Champions League and everybody has to be prepared."
Guardiola also believes that, despite his tender years, Stones has the strength of character and personality to cope.
- Full-back vacancy -
"He's young, he has to improve, but he's open and he has a lot of personality," said Guardiola.
"When you play in the big teams, the character is there. All the big clubs buy huge players.
"I am not able to say the players from Chelsea, (Manchester) United, Arsenal, Tottenham -- all of them have quality.
"The difference is the personality, how they react in the bad moments. John is one of them, I don't have doubts about that."
Guardiola, further, insisted Van Dijk will not be on his way to the Etihad Stadium in the new year.
While the City manager does not necessarily expect a new signing at the club in the January transfer window, he refused to rule out a potential move for a full-back.
"Will Van Dijk come here? Next month here? We are going to Southampton to play against them. He is not going to come here next month, because it is impossible," laughed Guardiola.
"Because he is a Southampton player and we don't want him now. We are going to go to Southampton to play them, that's for sure.
"I said before that if you ask me today, 'No.' But maybe next week if we decide to change and we realise maybe we need something special maybe in one position, one more player in that position because we don't have too much, especially in the full-backs.
"But the other positions we are quite happy."
AFP
Mon Dec 26 2016
Guardiola believes that, despite his tender years, Stones (pix) has the strength of character and personality to cope. - Filepic
Buli siber: Beberapa kementerian bincang perketat undang-undang - Fahmi
Penambahbaikan aspek perundangan akan diteliti kerajaan, termasuk mengadakan perbincangan dengan beberapa kementerian berkaitan dalam masa terdekat.
Kementerian Digital sedia bantu PKS dalam pelaksanaan e-invois - Gobind
Beliau menegaskan bahawa pelaksanaan e-Invois itu akan memberi manfaat, termasuk meningkatkan pendapatan PKS.
Kim Pan-gon akan ke Ulsan Hyundai?
Bekas pengendali skuad negara itu dilaporkan sedang menjadi calon utama untuk mengisi jawatan pengurus kelab gergasi Korea Selatan, Ulsan Hyundai.
Lebih 2,300 hektar kawasan lapang di ibu negara diperuntukkan kawasan hijau
Daripada keluasan itu, sebanyak 977.55 hektar tanah telah diwartakan, manakala 1,416.24 hektar tanah lapang yang berpotensi akan dan sedang dalam proses diwartakan.
Guna jawatan untuk projek pembekalan, suami isteri ditahan
Sepasang suami isteri direman enam hari dalam siasatan penyalahgunaan jawatan untuk mendapatkan projek pembekalan bernilai lebih RM200,000.
Perintah reman dikeluarkan Majistret Noor Mazrinie Mahmood bermula hari ini hingga Ahad.
Perintah reman dikeluarkan Majistret Noor Mazrinie Mahmood bermula hari ini hingga Ahad.
DBKL ubah lalu lintas Jalan Sultan Ismail bermula 22 Julai
Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) akan melaksanakan perubahan lalu lintas di Jalan Sultan Ismail berkuat kuasa 22 Julai ini.
ADUN Rembia sertai Pas, kenapa tak umum tahun lepas? - MP Kampar
Tindakan tersebut seolah-olah satu penghinaan paling besar kepada Parlimen yang telah meluluskan pindaan Perlembagaan Persekutuan berkait Akta Antilompat Parti.
[TERKINI] Perbelanjaan pengguna Malaysia dijangka kembali teguh
Perbelanjaan pengguna Malaysia dijangka teguh sepanjang tahun ini, demikian menurut BMI, iaitu syarikat Fitch Solitions.
Kes bunuh Nur Farah Kartini: Suspek berkhidmat 5 tahun dalam PDRM
Anggota berusia 26 tahun terbabit bertugas di Balai Polis Slim River di bawah Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah (IPD) Muallim dengan pangkat lans koperal.
Perunding pelaburan didakwa terlibat pengubahan wang haram hampir RM1 juta
Seorang perunding pelaburan mengaku tidak bersalah atas empat pertuduhan pengubahan wang haram berjumlah hampir RM1 juta.
Dua gol Haaland beri permulaan cemerlang buat Manchester City
Anak buah Pep Guardiola kembali beraksi kompetitif dengan hebat di Turf Moor.
Salah tidak perlukan motivasi untuk jadi legenda - Klopp
Mohamed Salah tidak perlukan motivasi tambahan untuk memecahkan rekod dan mencapai status legenda, kata pengurus Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp.
Kane bukti peranan penting taktikal Mourinho
Jose Mourinho yakin Tottenham dan Son Heung-min tidak akan menghadapi masalah dalam rundingan kontrak baru sambil memuji sentuhan Harry Kane dalam kemenangan 2-0 ke atas West Brom, malam tadi.
EPL: Southampton selesa ketepikan Aston Villa 4-3
Kedua-dua gol yang dijaringkan pada babak pertama itu, memberi kelebihan kepada Southampton untuk terus ke tangga keempat liga.
EPL: Everton dan Liverpool seri tanpa jaringan
Aksi sulung Everton dan Liverpool selepas penggantungan EPL pula berakhir dengan seri tanpa jaringan.
Astro peroleh hak siaran Liga Perdana Inggeris hingga 2021/2022
Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad memperoleh hak eksklusif untuk menyiarkan semua perlawanan liga tersebut untuk tiga musim akan datang.
Mourinho berang aksi longlai jentera serangan United
United meraih deretan peluang untuk mendapatkan kemenangan tetapi disia-siakan, sehingga pengurus pasukan, Jose Mourinho, berang dengan persembahan yang dipamerkan oleh beberapa pemain.
John Terry tinggalkan Aston Villa
John Terry akan meninggalkan Aston Villa selepas hanya beraksi satu musim selepas mereka gagal melayakkan diri ke Liga Perdana Inggeris dari Liga Kejuaraan.
Guardiola extends Man City contract to 2021
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola signed a contract extension with the Premier League champions on Thursday that will keep him in the job until 2021.
Salah sets record, Liverpool qualify for Champions League
Mohamed Salah becomes the first player to score 32 goals in a 38-game Premier League season.