John Stones Admits Manchester City Had to Adapt Their Game On Shocking Wembley Surface

John Stones said that Manchester City had to adapt their style of play in order to beat Tottenham on an awful Wembley surface on Monday evening.

Tottenham had planned to move into their new stadium by now but that has been pushed back until 2019, leaving them to play at Wembley one day after an NFL game. As a result, the pitch was in terrible condition, which could have interfered with City's slick passing game.

But Riyad Mahrez scored the only goal of the game as City returned to the top of the Premier League, with Stones admitting that they didn't want to use the surface as an excuse.

"We knew it was going to be a difficult match," he said, quoted by the Manchester Evening News. "We were up against a top-quality side tonight.

"We had to get on with it. We saw it as a positive, we didn’t try to put any negative spin on it. We didn’t want to make excuses. It was the same for both teams and we just tried to play our football.

"You’ve got to take matters in your own hands some times and know what kind of situation you’re in.

"Today the ball was bouncing and we knew that it wasn’t right to try and bring it down and play through the middle because Tottenham press high and they regain the second balls quite well.

"We had to adapt a bit and maybe not play too many risky balls and make decisions differently in certain areas and play maybe longer or be a bit more safe. In the end it worked out well and we got the three points, so that’s the main thing."

City are back in action on Thursday when they host Fulham in the Carabao Cup.