The Stones Test... will Allardyce pick the ball-playing Man City defender or won't he?

Nobody is going to define Sam Allardyce's time as England manager quite like the country's most expensive defender John Stones. 


Will Allardyce build a brave new national team around the £47 million footballing centre-half who has earned comparisons with Rio Ferdinand? Or will those who brand him a long-ball manager feel vindicated as Stones is left on the bench as he was under Roy Hodgson at Euro 2016? Stones will be in Allardyce's first England squad, named on Sunday. But the real clue will come next Sunday when the starting line-up is announced for the World Cup qualifier in Slovakia.