Stones has 'credit in the bank' but Tuchel concerned by injury setbacks

John Stones has "credit in the bank" with Thomas Tuchel, but the England boss knows they must handle the defender's fitness with caution.

Stones withdrew from the England squad over the weekend and has returned to Manchester City for assessment on a minor injury. 

The 31-year-old has made 87 senior appearances for the Three Lions, and has been a regular in Tuchel's squads since he took charge last year.

Despite Stones' injury issues, Tuchel sees the centre-back as a valuable member of his squad.

"It's not ideal for John and for us. John was gutted he had this minor incident. Given the history, we had to be careful. It made no sense to push him through and try stuff and make things worse," Tuchel told reporters.

"He has a lot of credit with me in the bank. He is a key player for me as a starter or coming off the bench. His quality, his mentality and personality, how he is, he is a big part of my plans still, but like everyone he has to be fit. 

"There's no big exception for that. But let's wait. I think he will have some days out and then be back on the pitch. I think he can get away with not too many minutes and then like always we take a late decision. Let's wait and see how it plays out."

Stones was joined in withdrawing from England's squad ahead of their friendly against Japan by Adam Wharton, along with Arsenal trio Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke.

Tuchel added: "Disappointed but not with the players, with the fact we want to have everyone in good spirits and health. It's the reality of end of the season and the end March, the reality of having players in European matches and more than just one competition with all the cups going on. 

"That's the reality of it. We have players in camp who have already played more minutes than last season, so there is some concern.

"The players needed and deserved the mental break from football. We could see the energy with which they came back into camp and to reconnect now in the new environment. 

"We want them to perform in their clubs but the reality is it's our last camp before we leave to America, so we want to reconnect to our principles. 

"It's disappointing but I'm not upset with the players, I'm not angry. Some of the injured players even stayed and started their treatment here. Had another dinner, another night, another breakfast. 

England are unbeaten in their three games against Japan, beating them 2-1 in both June 1995 and in May 2010, while they shared a 1-1 draw in June 2004.

However, the Three Lions have won just two of their last seven friendlies (D2 L3), having won 12 consecutively between 2018 and 2023 beforehand.

"I like it a lot, I like the Japanese team. It's an honour to play them. We have two very interesting and different opponents, different mentalities and style of play," Tuchel added.

"We were excited about it. The quality and the way Japan plays, one loss in 17 matches, very good run.

"You see the quality, we need to be ourselves and be on our top performance to win the game."