John Stones feared he could miss the European Championships after being injured on the eve of the tournament.
The England and Manchester City defender had to be withdrawn after suffering an issue with his foot during the final tune-up for Euro 2024 against Iceland at Wembley Stadium last Friday.
The 30-year-old underwent tests on the injury before flying out with team-mates to Germany where his concerns were allayed ahead of his side’s tournament opener against Serbia.
“I was worried at first,” Stones 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’.
“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.”
Stones, who also suffered with illness in the week including “a real rough 36 hours”, is set to be fit for Sunday’s game in Gelsenkirchen.
“I feel great,” he added. “Really good.”
Following Serbia, England face Denmark in Frankfurt on June 20 before travelling to Cologne to meet Slovenia, on June 25, in the final game of Group C.
GO DEEPER
England have more stars than other Euro 2024 favourites. They also have more problems
(Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
