Everton vs Stoke City - John Stones backs Tom Cleverley for England recall

Posted Sunday, December 27, 2015 by PA

England defender John Stones has backed Everton team-mate Tom Cleverley to return to the international fold.

The 26-year-old midfielder won the last of his 13 senior England caps in a friendly against Germany in November 2013 during his Manchester United days having at one point found himself the subject of a fans' petition demanding that he was never picked again.

However, having rebuilt his career at Goodison Park, Stones believes Cleverley has earned the right to be considered once again as national boss Roy Hodgson assesses his options for next summer's Euro 2016 finals.

He told evertontv: "I know as players you're biased to your own team-mates, but I think it's only right that I speak on behalf of a lot of the lads in our dressing room when I say Tom should be in the England squad - on current form at least.

"He's playing terrifically well. Sometimes players don't get too many chances to get back into the squad, but I'm sure he would be delighted to."

Stones' comments came after Cleverley snatched a 1-0 Barclays Premier League victory for his team with the final touch of the game at Newcastle on Boxing Day.

Victory on Tyneside eased Roberto Martinez's men into ninth place in the table, just three points behind Manchester United in sixth, ahead of Monday's home clash with Stoke, who got the better of Louis van Gaal's side on Saturday.

Martinez is relishing a showdown between two sides he believes will go all-out for victory rather than trying simply to survive a second game in three days.

He said: "We are going to see two teams that are both built to score goals and are both having a very good moment of belief and confidence.

"They [Stoke] have got a lot of creativity in the side, a lot of arrogance in the right way, and I think it's going to be a really open game with two teams looking to get the three points rather than just trying to get through a game."

Martinez rested Gerard Deulofeu and Arouna Kone at St James' Park with the Spaniard used only as a second-half substitute and the Ivorian not at all.

He will use the depth of his squad once more against the Potters with striker Steven Naismith back in contention after an ankle problem and Phil Jagielka, Bryan Oviedo, James McCarthy and Steven Pienaar all close to returns.

The Potters head to Goodison Park knowing victory will lift them into the top half of the Premier League.

Everton may have lost just one of their last 10 matches, but Stoke boss Mark Hughes feels his team will head to Merseyside full of confidence after claiming another big scalp against United.

"We are playing well so it's a game we look forward to," said Hughes, who has overseen wins over United, Manchester City and Chelsea this term.

"There's a demand on Everton to go forward and be progressive and have a go so that may well play into our hands, hopefully."

Xherdan Shaqiri, Geoff Cameron and Glenn Whelan came off with slight injuries in the Boxing Day match, but all three could be fit for the game at Everton.

"Xherdan will be okay and Geoff had a little bit of tightness, but we are hopeful that he will be okay in time for the game on Monday," Hughes added.

"Glenn felt his calf a bit at half-time so we took him off. It was the right thing to do."