John Stones can become one of the leading lights of this Manchester City team, says Pep Guardiola

The central defender, 23, has been praised for his recent performances for club and country

Guardiola is delighted with his defender's recent form (Getty)

John Stones can become one of the leading lights of this Manchester City team, according to his manager Pep Guardiola.

The central defender, 23, has been praised for his recent performances for club and country.

He was part of the England team that held both Germany and Brazil to goalless draws, and has also been impressing at the Etihad this season.

The defender had a difficult first year with the club, following his £47.5m move from Everton, struggling for form, suffering injury and ending the campaign on the bench. But now Guardiola believes Stones is developing well at City and that he has grown both on and off the pitch.

“He is more mature,” the manager said. “Every player when he's 20 or 21 is completely different to when he is 27 or 28. To have experience in the Champions League you need to live that. Last season in the Nou Camp, this in San Paolo [against Napoli] then against the best in Neymar and Gabriel [Jesus] against Brazil.

“You need to live that to become a better player. You have a lot of skills and talent when you buy them but they have to live the situation to realise 'OK, I can handle it'. For that you need time. In football you don't get time but you need it.”

Stones came under fire for a number of high-profile mistakes for City last season, but Guardiola now believes those errors are behind him.

Stones has been in fine form for City this season (Getty)

When Vincent Kompany was injured on international duty, playing for Belgium in their 9-0 win over Gibraltar in August, City fans were worried it could spell the end to their newfound defensive stability. But in the Belgian’s absence, Stones stepped up and became the team’s leader at the back, forging an impressive partnership with Nicolas Otamendi.

Guardiola puts the change down to experience.

He added: “We cannot forget that last season was the first time he was able to play three games a week. Everton, they play once a week. Here you have the Champions League. You need a process to settle.

“He has this amazing quality to understand the game, to be calm, to read the next pass. Defensively all the team helped a lot, but he joined a good partnership with Nico [Otamendi]. Every game last season he made one or two mistakes and this season that is more irregular.”

Stones and Otamendi have formed a solid defensive partnership (Getty)

City and Stones return to the scene of one of their worst performances of last season, as they travel to Leicester on Saturday.

The defender will have bad memories of that day, as he assisted one of Jamie Vardy’s goals, playing a short backpass to goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, in a 4-2 defeat. But it now looks like Stones has forgotten all about those errors, having been far more reliable for City this season.

The manager believes that consistency is because the defender is settled in Manchester and is maturing off the pitch.

Guardiola added: “He became a father and that helped his life to be well-organised.”

Despite his impressive start to the new season, the City boss thinks there is room for the defender to improve.

“He's still young and it depends on him if he wants to become better,” Guardiola said.

“Hopefully he still has the desire to improve because there are many things to improve with and without the ball.”