Jamie Redknapp and Micah Richards jump to defence of John Stones after mistake in Carabao Cup final

Jamie Redknapp and Micah Richards have come to the defence of Manchester City defender John Stones after his mistake that led to Aston Villa‘s goal in the Carabao Cup final.

City looked to be comfortably on their way to a third successive League Cup win after goals from Sergio Aguero and Rodri in the opening 30 minutes.

But Villa were given a glimmer of hope just before the break when Stones’ slip ended up with Mbwana Samatta halving City’s lead.

Jamie Redknapp and Micha Richards have defended John Stones following his error

Man City appeared to be on their way to a comfortable Carabao Cup win after 30 minutes

City managed to secure the trophy with a 2-1 win after Bjorn Engels saw his header from a corner turned on to the woodwork superbly by keeper Claudio Bravo in a second half in which Stones impressed alongside Fernandinho.

And Redknapp believes that criticism of Stones’ mistake should be limited and that he would like to see him see more of him in action by telling Sky Sports: ‘He showed character, there was a lot of pressure and he has not played a lot of football. He made some really vital headers for his team and cleared the ball. 

‘I think that is why we would like to see more of him. That’s just a mistake. He’s fallen over, what can you do? Sometimes you fall over, I did it plenty of times.

‘It is the worst 20 seconds in football there. I mean if you lose the ball in midfield you just pray that they don’t score. 

But Stones’ slip allowed Mbwana Samatta to halve the deficit for Aston Villa before the break

‘When they do score sadly it sums up the last year or so for him but he showed character and got on with it and did everything right in the second half.’

Similarly on his error in the first half, former Villa defender Richard was sympathetic and said: ‘I feel sorry for him. I feel like he hasn’t come in fresh and he is gonna be judged on his mistake. 

‘If that is [Vincent] Kompany or Virgil Van Dijk it probably doesn’t lead to a goal but when you luck isn’t in… I feel like he is going through a little bit of a bad time at the moment. 

‘But he will come out of it because he is a winner and he has still got some sort of confidence for the manager to play him here there today. 

The duo however were keen to highlight Stones’ show of strength in the second half 

‘He just needs to keep working hard and get his head down and hopefully his luck will change.

‘I think the fee, £50million, is the problem. If it was £30m or £25m we wouldn’t be talking about him. 

‘But if you want to get to the top you will have to deal with pressure. He will deal with it because he is a top player, he is just having a bad moment.’