Manchester City star John Stones reveals players were confused by NFL markings on ‘terrible’ Wembley pitch
Defender criticised the state of the playing surface at the national stadium after the Premier League champions beat Spurs 1-0 last night to return to the top of the table
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JOHN STONES admitted Manchester City's players were thrown by the NFL markings on the 'terrible' Wembley pitch on Monday night.
The champions played their match against Tottenham just 30 hours after an American football match at the national stadium.
The lines were still clearly visible on the surface and Stones said it confused Pep Guardiola's men - particularly the wingers.
City managed to adapt better than their title rivals and ran out with a vital 1-0 win thanks to an early strike from Riyad Mahrez.
But Stones said: "I think the most frustrating thing for us was the lines.
";All the white lines on the pitch threw you off at times and that something that frustrated us quite a lot.
"Especially for the wide players who are trying to hug the line and sometimes in your peripheral vision there is a big thick white line and it’s off putting.
"It’s not something that I’d hope happens again. But everyone did their jobs really well and adapted to the situation."
Stones was also unhappy with the playing surface at Wembley - but said it was pretty much what they expected in the build up.
Asked what he thought of it, Stones said: "Terrible. It was the same for both teams - we couldn’t do anything about it.
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"I think how we approached the game with a positive mindset about the pitch and how we approached it, how we trained and knew how it was going to be.
"We just tried to adapt and play our normal football. It was the same for both teams and it’s just one of those things.
"You get these games where it could be snowing heavily, it’s just another condition that you have to play a football game in.
"I think it is credit to the lads and manager, getting us in that positive mindset about how we approached the game and still play our football. It’s about adapting.
"Sometimes there’s a bounce and it’s a bit of a risk to play the short pass or try to play through the middle, but that’s adapting to the situation you are in and I thought the lads did that brilliantly."